Ah! 10948 edited
by ironrod
Summary: Was Keiichi and Belldandy's meeting really an accident, re-edited with additional content.
1. Chapter 1

Ah! 10948 edited. ch1.

_Ah! My Goddess is the copyrighted property of Kosuke Fujisnima. This story is a separate work of fiction using characters from the original not written for profit under the Fair Use doctrine regarding copyrighted materials._

_This is a re-editing of my second story 10948. I've added a prologue and additional dialogue and background in an attempt to make the story flow better. But it is still basically the same story so don't expect to find much difference._

* * *

><p><strong><span>Prologue:<span>**

"Confirmed," came the electronic voice of Yggdrasil in Peorth's mind, "accessing system file 10948. Confirming connection with Peorth."

With that final input the Heavenly computer system known as Yggdrasil, in a fashion understood only by it, began dumping the contents of the classified file directly into the receptive goddess' brain. Shocked by what she saw, "Is that…Belldandy? Peorth couldn't help but question the machine, "What is she doing here?" before reigning her mind back in so the rest of the data file could to transfer into her. She didn't need to ask who the other was. For although Yggdrasil had obscured the offender's face it still had failed to conceal his identity. The sex goddess had easily recognized the robes as belonging to a former client of hers. Celestin, one time holder of the lowest seat in the Council of Heaven which by virtue of their convoluted systems of checks and balances made him the most influential being in Heaven, second only to the AMO himself.

"Well that explains a few things," she thought wryly to herself as she walked back to her station trying to clear her head. Thinking back certain events in her past now started to make sense, at least now she knew why Celestin would make her play dress up with the Auburn hared wig and all too short light blue robes and why he just disappeared all of a sudden.

"What a shame for you, Belldandy," Peorth thought to herself as her mind continue to wander, "he would have made a good first love for you had I been able to finish with him."

Peorth knew she wasn't being vain with that last thought. After all that was her purpose, to take the dark energies of lust and refocus them down the more enlightened path of love. How many relationships she had saved in her tenure she didn't know and didn't much care but the number she knew was somewhere in the thousands. Sadly while she could help the relationships of others, for herself she knew there could be none, for how could she devote the time and energy to just one special person when she knew that she would forever be required to help those in need?

"Such a beautiful day," she forced herself think as she tried to calm her mind, "who could possibly think that something so awful could have happened to Belldandy on a day such as this?" Without warning the anger she had felt earlier by what she had just witnessed was upon her once again, "Vaccination!" she seethed, "How could they even think of it! After everything else that they had done to Belldandy and now they want to vaccinate her too!"

She would have been even more enraged had her own anger not hidden another dark truth from her. While the awful information that was the 10948 data file was being downloaded in to her consciousness the council had also hidden deep in her subconscious access to Heaven's final option, Gungnir.

* * *

><p><strong><span>10948 Ch.1<span>**

Not that far from the outskirts of Nekomi lies an old run down apartment building. Although the amount of available living space in the region is far outstripped by the need the unknown owner of the building failed to capitalize on that fact and make the minor renovations necessary to attract tenants. His reason wasn't due to apathy; instead it was because one of his tenants, his only one as a matter of fact, liked her privacy. As a result a certain First class Demon and her boss had their run of the entire building. It would have been the height of luxury too had the rest of the building had any windows.

In the basement of said apartment where the only tenets dwelled was Mara who in her boredom was trying to hone her skills at BreakOut, while Hild's child like avatar was poring over Nidhogg's quarterly reports. The relative silence of the room was suddenly shattered by the innocent sounding voice of the ruler of all Demon-kind as she noticed an anomaly in the data runs. "One zero nine four eight," came Hild's voice as she suddenly sat up seemingly suspended in space above the unkempt floor of the basement.

"What?" said a startled Mara, as she looked up from the video game she had been playing.

"One zero nine four eight." repeated Hild, showing Mara a piece of fan-fold paper who's apparent origin was thin air.

"So what exactly does that mean?" asked Mara.

"I don't really know myself," Hild replied, "but Nidhogg thinks it might be the number of a classified file in the Yggdrasil system due to the fact that it was accessed immediately after the system became infected with that latest virus. That's what piqued my interest just now. Looking at the printout it seems that the virus entered through a satellite 6."

"As I recall, Satellite 6 is Belldandy's IP Port." Mara commented.

"You are absolutely right Mara," Hild smiled at her with a cat-that-ate-the-canary-grin. "So I'm willing to bet that whatever is in that file is somehow related to Belldandy."

"Do you have any clues as to what might be inside?"

"No I don't," Hild admitted, "but I do have a snooper program in Nidhogg designed to flag seldom used file numbers that might be classified. Seeing as how this file was accessed just before all hell broke loose up there it is a good bet that it might disclose a vulnerability in Heaven's system."

"What did happen anyway? I know it must have been something major for them to do a full system reset." Mara commented.

"I don't know either," Hild admitted uncharacteristically, "and that's what makes me jealous, all that hate and discontent and me having nothing to do with any of it! That's why I think I might need to take a look inside that file."

Mara realizing that the conversation was taking a dangerous turn was suddenly on the alert. "My lady far be it from me to question your wisdom but aren't we crossing into a dangerous area here?"

"Great rewards only come with great risk Mara, you should know that. If there is something in that file that we can use to our advantage don't you think we should at least explore the possibility of hacking it?

"I won't argue with you on that, but if it is classified then how do you propose we access it? It's not like you can hack into Heaven's system anytime you want. Not to mention that if Heaven finds out that we were even thinking of hacking into Yggdrasil then we will be in violation of the truce and subject to some very severe sanctions!"

"True, but it might be worth the risk if the file contains information on a vulnerability that Yggdrasil shares with Belldandy. If that is the case and we are able to exploit it then we can finally put an end to this struggle once and for all! You must agree that with Belldandy being as vulnerable as she is being stuck down here on Earth this represents a golden opportunity to strike at Heaven through her!

"Keiichi Morisato," Hild continued wistfully, "who would have ever thought that I would be grateful to that idiot for trapping Belldandy down here on the mortal plane."

"That means putting an end to the truce!" Mara gasped terrified, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"What's the matter Mara?" Hild scoffed. "Afraid to go head to head with the goddesses on our own turf?"

"It's not that," Mara said backpedaling, "but the doublet system has worked out for us so far. Are you sure you want to go back to the way things used to be?"

"And the doublet system will work out for us once again. It's not like Heaven will break the truce on their own. If we can hack the system and successfully crash it, then we can be in total control of this world before they know what hit them. Heaven won't have any choice but to acknowledge our dominance over the mortal plane."

"Well then," Mara said not sounding too convinced, "how do you propose we hack in to the system?"

"It's really very simple Mara," Hild explained snapping her fingers causing an 8 x 10 glossy photo to appear in her hand, "any security system is only as strong as its weakest link, right now with Belldandy trapped down here she is that weak link. We need only find some method of hacking into her connection then downloading the information."

"Yes but Belldandy's firewall is as strong as any in Heaven! Its not like you will be able to find a link you can crack that easily. Besides, a direct attack against her link is the same as an attack against Yggdrasil itself. We'll have Lind and her Valkyries up our kazoos in a heartbeat if we do so!"

"We don't have to attack the link directly," Hild spoke as if to a slow child, "if the information is in a shared file then we just need to download the information from Belldandy to a non-secure server."

"That's what I'm saying; goddesses don't have any weak links!"

"Yes, but she does have a weakness," Hild responded turning the photo of a certain popular sidecar racing team so Mara could see it, "Keiichi!"

Taking the photo from Hild, Mara studied the face of her archnemesis' boyfriend staring back at her from the picture before continuing, "I don't see how he can help us, humans don't have direct links to one another much less to a goddess. For Keiichi to have a link with Belldandy then she would need to establish it herself and she sure as Heaven won't do that if she thinks it will put him in danger!"

"How about if it were to keep him from danger?"

"Ah ha," Mara exclaimed, the light suddenly going on inside her mind, "I sense the beginnings of another of your diabolical plans Lady Hild. What is it that you have in mind?"

"It's really very simple." Hild smiled now that Mara was onboard. "All we need to do is to get Belldandy to link up with Keiichi, and then force her to download all her information onto him. Once that is done we can seal him up, drain his brain and if I'm feeling particularly generous, I might even let him go when I'm done. Heaven will be powerless to stop us and since we never struck directly at Belldandy or Yggdrasil technically we will still be within the confines of the truce."

"I see one major problem," Mara said scratching her head, "how do we force Belldandy to download her information onto Keiichi?"

"We do that by uploading a minor programming change into Keiichi's short term memory before they link up."

"And just how minor is minor?" Mara asked with a smirk.

"We'll just simply change Keiichi's program from its customary default of RAM to a simple Read to End of File code. Once the link is established that will force the two of them to exchange all their memories before Belldandy can sever the link. In effect moving all that critical information from her onto an unprotected server. Now it might be possible for her to sever the link before the program reached the critical file but if she were to do that then she would run the risk of scrambling his brains permanently."

"Belldandy guards Keiichi with a jealousy that is frightening," Mara pointed out. "I'm sure Belldandy will notice if Keiichi starts walking around with that Read to End of File code running amok in his brain."

"You're right, of course, in order for this to work it would need to be imbedded into a Trojan horse with a Read Once DRO code that would trigger immediately after Belldandy establishes the link."

"Why the DRO, wouldn't we want to leave it in place for possible future use?"

"No, we can't take the risk."

"Why not?"

"Just as you said earlier about the Doublet treaty. If we leave any code in his brain that can be traced back to us Heaven's wrath will be so great that even I wouldn't want to be here."

"Okay," said Mara as the wheels in her twisted mind started to turn, "Three basic problems we need to overcome.

"We need to trick Belldandy into voluntarily establishing a direct link with Keiichi.

"We need to have pre loaded a virus into his mind.

"And we need to be there to spring the trap and seal Keiichi before Belldandy can clean up."

"The first part shouldn't be that hard," began Hild, "the silly bitch is absolutely guileless. She always takes the shortest path between point A and B. We just need to create a situation where she witnesses him walking into the path of some impending danger and then make it so she has no other way to communicate a warning to him. The third part is just a matter of stealth and timing."

"But what about part two?" began Mara, "How do we take control of his mind without Belldandy knowing? She may be guileless but she isn't stupid. She'll know something is up as soon as she senses our presence."

"That's true, but she still won't know what we are up to. With a little misdirection we can have her jumping one way when she should be going the other."

"Okay, so you have the Belldandy part of this equation handled but even if you can get her to dance to your tune just how are you going to handle Keiichi. How are you planning on uploading your Trojan horse into that idiot's feeble mind?"

"How should I know?" Hild smiled evilly at Mara, "That is what I have my Cyber Daemon for."

"Oh please, don't tell me you are going to call him in!"

"Of course I am! Those three goddesses have been a pain in my butt for way too long. It's time to roll out the big guns. By the way, what time is it in Seattle?"

"Oh that poor bastard!" Shuddered Mara in sympathy.

At the secret headquarters of a little known software manufacturer located at:

One Microsoft Way  
>Redmond, WA 98052-7329, USA<br>Tel: (425) 882-8080  
>Fax: (425) 706-7329.<p>

"I don't know who this is," came the voice of the obviously disgruntled Daemon whom Hild had woken on the far side of the world, "but it had better be good for you to be waking me at this ungodly hour of the night!"

"Don't you dare blaspheme in my presence!" came the playful jibe from Hild as she stared out of the Daemon's computer screen.

"Oh, pardon me, it's you Lady Hild!" the evil visage of the knurled old Daemon suddenly brightening at the sound of Hild's voice.

Now normally, when a demon discovers it has spoken disrespectfully to the CEO of hell they recoil in fright. However, the look on the face of the Daemon staring out of the computer terminal was anything but scared. Instead it was more akin to affection, almost bordering on lust, as he admired Hild's girlish form from the relative safety of his video display.

What terrified Mara even more was the look that Hild returned. When the CEO of hell finds herself being spoken to in such a fashion the usual glare she gave the unlucky offender was enough to make your average demon wish for death! However, instead of being angry, she was looking back at the gnarled old face that was ogling her flirtatiously, almost as if she returned his feelings.

"Daemon William." said Hild formally, "long time no see."

"Lady Hild" said Daemon William obviously overjoyed by the source of the interruption, "always a pleasure to see you any time of the day or night. I must say I admire the new look. What can I do for you?" he asked as he continued to disrobe her with his eyes.

"Billy, I need to ask you a favor."

"Shoot."

"I need to upload a computer virus."

"Is that all?" said Daemon William in obvious disappointment. "Surely you have your own people on staff to handle that kind of thing for you locally."

"I do, but this is a special kind of virus. Instead of the usual method of having a human place a virus onto a computer, I want to upload a virus from a computer to a human."

"I see," said Daemon William, once again cheerful in the face of this new challenge, "well then that's a little different and as it just so happens my product development crew has been working just such an application."

"Shame on you," Hild said playfully, "trying to go with such a radical product improvement without telling me about it."

"Actually, I was going to see if you would allow us to roll it into the new OS after the beta testing was done," said Daemon William trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face. Both Hild and Daemon William lost their battle to maintain their stoic expressions at the same time and broke down into laughter.

"Of course," he said after he regained his composure, "I wouldn't be worthy of the title Daemon if I didn't possess some duplicity! But anyway, as I'm sure you already know, I have a version of the new Reverse Interface Virus ready for its first beta test. All I need from you is the target's name."

"Of course, his name is Keiichi Morisato."

"And what would you like this virus to do?"

"I want to upload a Trojan horse into his mind."

"I assume you have the code already written and you just need a delivery service."

"That's right, I'm sending you the specifics in an encrypted attachment."

"Very well," Billy replied, "I'll get to work on the base code right away. With that he turned away from the screen and began typing away on an ancient Commodore 64. As he worked he continued his conversation with his boss.

"Lady Hild, if you don't mind my asking, what's got you in such a state?"

"It's those three dam goddesses," Hild vented, "how dare they almost destroy the entire world and I don't even get an invitation!"

"I see, was that what that master reset I felt the other day all about?"

"It was, but the kicker of it all is that the Infernal realm wasn't in on it."

"You're saying that the Earth just had a major AU adjustment the other day and it wasn't our fault?" Daemon William asked in awe.

"That's right."

"How is that even possible?"

"It's those dam three Norn's," Hild answered him in disgust, "They create more discord in Heaven by accident than the whole of the Infernal Realm can accomplish by design. If I can't find some way to get those bitches back up there soon we all might find ourselves unemployed!"

"That would be…inconvenient." Daemon William sighed. "Well I'm all done with the base code, just give me a few minutes to insert the attachment into the file and then I will insert the new code into the next automatic update."

"About how long do you think it will take to propagate?"

"With my new VvIiSrTuAs operating system needing to be updated almost constantly I can guarantee that the next time the target logs on he will be instantly infected."

"Oh, you are my hero!" said Hild as she openly flirted with him in an almost obscene fashion.

"You are too kind," smiled Daemon William as he stared longingly at Hild.

As Mara observed the romantic interplay between the two she couldn't help but shudder with revulsion at what such an evil paring would produce. It was all she could do to hold back her nausea as the ever-worsening visuals in her minds eye caused by her twisted imagination degenerated into possibilities even too disgusting for her to contemplate. Finally, the two were done chatting and the conversation terminated.

Hild had been aware of Mara's discomfort the whole time but being the ruler of hell she couldn't help but make her sweat a little before putting her mind at ease.

"Don't worry yourself Mara," Hild told her, "there are limits to even my depravity. While I'll admit that I do share a certain fondness for the old pervert, I just don't think I could ever let him sire my child."

"It's not just that!" Mara said, as her frustration boiled over. "Why is it that he gets all the special treatment! How come he's a Daemon and I'm still just a Demon? I have the tenure yet still I'm stuck here everyday in this crappy run down apartment getting my ass kicked by those dam goddesses while he's living the life of luxury in Seattle."

"Redmond actually," Hild corrected, "but to answer your question. Innate ability can only take you so far Mara. Desire and motivation are also needed and while it's true you have a natural talent for the job, you just don't seem to be motivated to really get down and dirty. There have been times when, if I didn't know any better, I would swear you have a conscience!

"Now when it comes to Billy: It was just the beginning of the PC revolution. He was one of only a handful of people who understood the true capabilities of these machines. While the rest of the world was going on about how computers were going to make everybody's lives easier Billy was already hard at work concentrating on their darker aspects. I saw promise in the convoluted way he insisted on writing his code.

"The custody battle over who would get Urd was, to put it mildly, bitter. As it so happened it was just after I had dropped her off to live with her father that I decided I might approach Billy about making a deal. I was in a particularly bad mood that day so I was looking for somebody I could really screw over. Billy was the perfect target, or so I thought, so I decided I would make a contract with him.

"Now you would have thought that since I had the upper hand and being as pissed off as I was I would have been able to negotiate a really foul contract, you know, the kind with him doing all the work and Hell reaping all the benefits. Instead by the time the negotiations were over with he had managed to wrangle a place on the board!"

"Of course he has a place on the board! It's his company after all," Mara snorted.

"Not that board," Hild chided her, "I'm talking about the board I chair."

"You're kidding me!" Mara gasped.

"How do you think he earned the title Daemon?"

"Let me get this straight," Mara asked in disbelief, "are you telling me that the great Daimakaicho was outmaneuvered?"

"Not even! With every new OS rollout Billy does for us the level of frustration and anger on earth increases tenfold and those stupid humans just keep lining up to spend their hard-earned money to buy the latest and greatest software in the hopes that that stupid machine will finally live up to all the hype. Instead exactly the opposite happens, lost files, frozen systems, crashed servers. It's literally Heaven, no I mean Hell, on earth. How can I not be fond of a Daemon that so enjoys his work and brings me such pleasure at the same time?

"Another thing to keep in mind, duplicitous as he is, he never lets his personal ambition get in the way of product development. I've known for quite some time about his work on the new virus. He has been pestering my group over at Spell Cast for months now on the details of remote human manipulation. Because of him and his dedication to our cause the humans are actually paying us to make their lives miserable! I still mark it as the single best deal I have ever made.

"That's the reason why it is so important to get Belldandy and her sisters back up to Heaven. I can't have Daemon William and the rest of my people spending hundreds of thousands of hours carefully planning and manipulating events in order to get the world to its current level of frustration only to have Belldandy and Company come along and trump the whole lot of us in a single evening."

"I understand," said Mara, "I have a question though. Once the Norn's are out of the way aren't you afraid that the humans might discover we had a hand in that last software roll out and take up arms against us?"

"Not to worry," Hild smiled in satisfaction, "Why do you think I had Billy set up his headquarters on the other side of the world? If word were to get out I still would have a five-hour lead-time. By then I will have been able to pull all my representatives from the PC and software manufacturers on this side of the world."

"I see," said Mara as she regarded the CEO of hell in a new light, "and then leave Daemon William to take the fall with the Justice Department in America while you get your group to safety over here."

"Exactly," Hild said answered her smugly.

"Aren't you worried about the possibility of the humans having such a high ranking member of the board in their custody?"

"Not really," replied Hild, "any member who sits on my board should be adept enough at getting himself out of a few minor scrapes with the law without help. Actually, I think they did try to take him down back in the early nineties."

"How did he get out of it?"

"I don't remember all the details, something about how two thirds of all the computers in the world would start coming to a halt 48 hours after he was incarcerated if they didn't back down."

"Lady Hild," questioned Mara, "if you don't mind my asking if the demon realm controls a majority of the OS market already then why haven't you been able to invade Yggdrasil directly until now?"

"Because," said Hild her good mood evaporating, "of that silly goddess in charge of Yggdrasil's Encoding Verification & Encryption department. She thought it would be cute if they were to use machines named after a certain fruit rather than use the ones that were being manufactured by my group over at I-ttiy B-itty M-inds."

"Are you saying that the only reason we haven't been able to penetrate Yggdrasil is because EVE wanted an App…?"

The evil look emanating from her boss caused her final words to die in her throat.

"Ouch," thought Mara to herself, "I should have seen that one coming."

"Yeah, me too," replied Hild.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ah! 10948 edited. ch2.**

Exam time, that time of the semester when it all comes down to brass tacks, where even having a goddess for a girlfriend will avail you not if you haven't been keeping up with your studies. That time when all your concentration and focus needs to be on the task at hand. When the last thing in the world you need to hear is an all too familiar demon's voice calling your name.

"Keiichi Morisato," came the sound of Mara's voice from behind him. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Ma... Mara, what are you doing here?" Keiichi stammered.

"While I know you are going to find it hard to believe I'm here to warn you," she said, "It would appear that Hild has blown a gasket! She has informed me in no uncertain terms that she wants your three pet goddesses off this planet now! I don't know what has happened to get her into such a state, but I do know that she is a level of angry that I have never witnessed this side of hell! She just made it perfectly clear to me that I am to do anything and everything it takes to get Belldandy and her sisters back up to Heaven and I am to make your life absolutely miserable from now on until they leave. A task that I would normally embrace with gusto I might add. However, I'm worried about Belldandy. Lets face it, that girl can out stubborn a mule and if she doesn't take the hint I am afraid that Hild might do something to get you out of the way! I know how Belldandy feels about you and I dam well don't want her to blame me if something bad happens to you because of it!"

"What do you mean by something bad?" asked Keiichi.

"In the state she is in right now I would not be surprised if Hild tries to kill you!"

"Why would she want to do that!"

"I'm not in the loop on this; all I know is that she mentioned something about you and those three goddesses almost destroying the entire world again!"

"That wasn't their fault! They had nothing to do with it! We just got caught up in that big mess is all."

"What!" Mara screamed in disgust, "You mean they really did almost destroy the world again!"

"Hey, be fair," Keiichi snapped back, "The first time was your fault! If you hadn't been so desperate to get the upper hand on Belldandy then the Lord of Terror thing would never have happened."

"Yeah whatever Morisato, regardless of what you might think the reason is, if you hadn't bound Belldandy to the mortal plane then whatever it was that just happened would not have happened. Anyway my orders from Hild don't give me any leeway and she is going to be watching me like a Hawk. Look, I'm just worried about my own ass here and I don't want Belldandy coming after me if Hild takes you out because you were too stubborn to release her contract!"

"Belldandy's not bound by her contract anymore, and she hasn't been for sometime," Keiichi told her proudly. "She stays down here with me of her own freewill."

"Freewill or not Morisato, that contract is what enables her to stay down here, without it the Almighty One would have recalled her a long time ago! Anyway, be advised that sometime today I'm going to put a pie in your face so that Hild will think I'm following her orders. I just stopped by to warn you and give you a chance to save yourself some pain; by the way, do you have any flavor preferences or food allergies I need to be aware of?"

"Apple and no, I guess." said a puzzled Keiichi.

"All right then I'll see what I can do. Look Keiichi," Mara said conspiratorially, "It's those dam goddesses I have a beef with, not you! Do us both a favor and revoke her contract, do it now before you both get hurt."

* * *

><p>Belldandy had felt Mara's presence as soon as she appeared on the campus. She had sought her out but Mara had been careful to make her presence felt at the other end of the campus. Then she waited until Belldandy came looking for her before she spoke with Keiichi as he was waiting for his next class. When Belldandy realized she had been duped she hurriedly sought out Keiichi and went to be by his side.<p>

"Was that Mara that was here just now?" she asked as she felt the Demon's presence fade.

"Yes it was," said Keiichi as his mind was still trying to wrap itself around what he had just been told.

"Did she say what she wanted?"

"Yes she did. Hild has found out about Celestin and thinks that we had something to do with the Earth almost being destroyed. Mara told me that Hild wants to drive the three of you off of the planet no matter what! Apparently their intention is to make our lives miserable until you three decide to go back home. She was even worried that I might get hurt if you don't take the hint."

"That had nothing to do with you!" Belldandy gasped. "Celestin plotted all that on his own, in fact had you not been here to help me stop him he most probably would have succeeded. Hild should know that we would never do anything to jeopardize the Earth."

"Well anyway," Keiichi continued, "Mara told me that she's going to put a pie in my face sometime today so Hild will think she's doing her job. She seemed really concerned about me not taking it personally; she even asked what flavor I liked."

"And you said?" Belldandy asked him suspiciously.

"Apple."

"Oh no," Belldandy gasped, "This could be very dangerous for you!"

"How so?"

"Mara is just as twisted as Hild! Don't forget she almost let you burn to death when she tried to seal me before."

"But still it's just a simple prank, just how much do I need to worry?"

"Apple pies are baked! If you get hit with one in your face that is fresh out of the oven you could be badly burned!"

"Oh, I didn't think of that. Maybe I should have asked for Banana Cream instead."

"This is not funny!" Belldandy snapped, "If Hild wishes to cause you harm there might not be anything I can do to stop it! We should go back to the temple right away."

"We can't go back to the temple. If I miss computer class I will flunk the course. I need to get this credit out of the way so that I can start Graduate School next semester."

"All right then," Belldandy sighed, "I will keep a close eye on you until your class is over then we need to go back home and get this mess straightened out before something bad really does happen to you."

* * *

><p>Education is a continually evolving science and different fields evolve at different speeds. As a result classrooms are constantly being renovated and teaching materials are constantly updated. Computers for instance are relatively new and fairly light, their power requirements are low and the machines themselves are easily portable. Consequently computer classes can be set up in just about any building where there is available space. Home Economics classes on the other hand use very heavy equipment such as refrigerators and stoves that require special plumbing and a heavy-duty power source. As a result once a Home Economics classroom is established in a certain building it is likely to remain there regardless of the nature of the other disciplines that might be taught in the classrooms that surround it.<p>

In computer class that day.

Keiichi made it to class just seconds before the doors were locked. Taking his seat in front of the console with his name on it he heard the voice of the Professor from the front of the classroom as he said, "All right students, log onto your assigned computers and enter your passwords. Once you're on line you will receive course instructions on today's exam. Don't bother looking over at your neighbor because their exam is totally different from yours. You have one-hour to complete the test. Incomplete is the same as failed and you will not pass this course. If there are no questions then you may begin."

As Keiichi logged onto his computer the system booted up and immediately began its thrice daily OS update containing Daemon William's latest virus, after the requisite 15 minute delay where the computer did everything except what the operator wanted it to do it finally rebooted itself and actually began the test. As Keiichi logged into the evil machine did a cross-reference of the user ID's and the Trojan horse's target files. Once Keiichi's ID was positively identified the system began uploading Hild's DRO program into his mind and began subtly altering his thinking processes. If Keiichi was even aware of that subtle itch in the back of his mind his concern for finishing the test out weighed it.

For their part Hild and Mara had moved to a safe distance beyond which Belldandy could not sense them and were eagerly monitoring the progress of the virus as it was uploaded into his brain via a hardened terminal.

Smiling at the Upload Complete banner on the screen Hild said in satisfaction, "Now all we need do is wait for the appropriate time to spring the trap,"

"You don't really want me to hit him in the face with a freshly baked apple pie do you?" asked Mara.

"No, I was tempted though, but as much as it would please me to cause that idiot more pain we need to stay focused on hacking Belldandy's firewall. Besides they're making cream pies in Home Economics class today so I guess he lucks out and we go with his second option."

"Instead of me hitting him in the face how about I force feed him Sora's pie instead?" Mara suggested maliciously.

"Very creative Mara, I like it, but I don't think poisoning him will do us any good. Let's just stick to the original plan."

"Oh, very well," Mara said dejectedly. "So how do we spring the trap?"

"By forcing Keiichi to exit by way of the Home Economics class. We just need to time it so that he walks by the class the same time the girls are taking their pies out of the refrigerator. I will create a distraction that will cause Belldandy to lose track of him then you can pummel him with pies to your heart's content. Once Belldandy senses he is in danger she will try to establish a link with him. As soon as that is done I will activate the Trojan horse and then we can withdraw and watch the outcome."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Aftermath.<span>**

As traps go it had been expertly executed, thought Keiichi as he looked down upon Belldandy's face as he cradled her head in his lap. It had been the epitome of simplicity and misdirection. Looking back on it Keiichi knew he should have realized that Belldandy had been the real target all along. After all Mara had as much as told him so when she 'warned' him of the trap. Keiichi now knew that he had been used as a weapon to injure the one person he cared for most in the world. It was this realization that had sickened him and had set his imagination traveling down the dark paths of the Id.

He didn't know how but he knew that the demons had done something to his mind that had caused his and Belldandy's thoughts to become locked together. Belldandy had been forced to share her mind's innermost secrets with him. The opposite had been true for him as well. The big difference, besides the fact that her fantasies were a lot more… adventurous…than his, was the fact that none of the secrets in his mind threatened the very foundations of Heaven.

At first Keiichi had thought that Belldandy was simply embarrassed by having been forced to share her fantasies with him. But the truth he realized was much darker, Belldandy had a hidden past, a past she so desperately wanted to keep secret from the ones she loved. Belldandy was a murderess!

His reverie was broken by Sora returning from the wash basin as she said, "Here are some more towels senpai." as she offered them to him along with a bucket of fresh water.

"Thank you," Keiichi replied gratefully.

Keiichi took the moistened towels from Sora and after checking to see that the bandages on Belldandy's hands were still tight, he began wiping the blood from Belldandy's face.

Looking back at the events of a quarter hour prior, he could see how the two of them had been played for fools. He had just finished his exam and had logged off his computer when the building's fire alarm was activated. The class had been evacuating down the stairs that passed by the Home Economics classroom when suddenly the doors had opened and those students began evacuating as well. Problem was that not all the cuisine had been graded yet and those students still needing to submit their projects had tried to rescue their creations. Into his line of sight had come Sora carrying the dessert she had made. Keiichi knew in an instant that this was the prank Mara had warned him of and he desperately tried to avoid falling into it but the crush of people was too great. Inexorably he and Sora's paths were being forced to cross.

For her part, Belldandy had been keeping watch on Keiichi from just outside the classroom doors when she suddenly felt Hild's presence in the building. She had gone to investigate and had found Hild standing next to one of the fire alarm stations. As soon as Hild and her eyes met Hild casually reached up and pulled the alarm and then disappeared.

Belldandy quickly realized that she had been tricked into leaving Keiichi unguarded and had hurriedly tried to return to him but by then the evacuation had already begun. By the time she got back to the classroom Keiichi was out the door and down the stairs. Desperately she looked for him in vain, fearing she had been dilatory she sought him out with her mind. Once she had triangulated his position she raced to the nearest overlook in a corner of one of the stairwell landings where she could keep watching him. Unfortunately by the time she had eyes on him he and Sora were already on a collision course. From her vantagepoint she could see which way he needed to dodge to avoid the demon's devilishly sticky trap but knew there was no way for him to hear her voice. Having no other option she linked her mind to his.

Of course, that had been just what Hild and Mara had been waiting for. Once they knew the link was established Hild activated Daemon William's Trojan horse and watched Keiichi go rigid as his mind lost control of all its voluntary thought processes.

For his part Keiichi had felt Belldandy's presence and had started to relax but as soon as she touched his consciousness with hers he felt something in his mind snap. Suddenly he was no longer able to just listen to her with his mind, now his brain needed to know everything. Without knowing how he felt his mind reach into hers and begin rifling through the contents of her memories. Prodding, poking, probing, every door that she had sought to keep closed Keiichi's mind had breached, every fantasy she had, every secret she held his out of control mind had stolen from her.

Belldandy had felt it too, as soon as the link was established she could feel an alien presence in his mind. A hungry ravenous string of living demon code that wouldn't be sated until every secret she held was exposed. She had reeled at the thought of opening her innermost self to Keiichi but knew if she severed the connection his mind could be seriously damaged. So there they had remained, each one being forced to share their most closely held secrets with the other. To their credit both Keiichi and Belldandy had relaxed their minds, allowing the duplex link to flow unrestricted, thereby reducing the strain on themselves and each other. As their minds remained locked together Keiichi found himself unable to move, the crush of the crowd forcing him and Sora closer together. Finally the inevitable happened, Keiichi felt his legs go out from under him and he fell face first into the Cream pie Sora was carrying.

As soon as Keiichi hit the floor the alarms went silent and the crush of people started to ease. The humor of the event didn't go unnoticed by those around him and a contagious laughter began to erupt easing the tension of a few moments earlier.

"Well Mr. Morisato, how does it taste," came the voice of the Home Ecc. Teacher as she struggled to contain her laughter.

Seeing the fearful look in Sora's eyes Keiichi knew that the fates had placed her GPA in his hands. Sealing himself he took a large portion of the sticky concoction and stuck it in his mouth. The unexpected and quite delicious flavor caught him off guard. The smile that lit up on his face told Sora she had a winner.

"Actually this is very delicious," he remarked.

"Well let's see then," said the Prof. "Sora, you get an automatic pass for submitting your project on time, I'm going to bump you up a letter grade for originality, and another bump for presentation; A Morisato Chocolate Banana Cream pie!" She finished before succumbing to fits of laughter.

"You really think it tastes good?" asked Sora excitedly. "I got the recipe from Belldandy you know."

"Yes, I really do," he replied, "speaking of Belldandy, you haven't seen her around by any chance have you?"

He looked about and glancing up his eyes found Belldandy as she stood at the top of the landing, the look of absolute horror on her face. As their eyes met her expression changed to one of revulsion, suddenly it seemed as if she no longer could bear to look at him and she turned and ran crying from the building.

Just as suddenly Keiichi became very concerned; while Belldandy had failed to protect him he really hadn't been in any danger. But the look on her face was one he had never seen before; she wasn't angry or mad. She had been revolted! He hurriedly excused himself and followed her from the building, using an apron that Sora had given him to wipe off his face as he ran.

Belldandy didn't know where she was running too; she only knew that she had to get away from Keiichi's gaze. A gaze that she was afraid she would never be able to bear again. As a result of her mental confusion she had begun to lose control over some of her power and her built in fail-safes were being force to release contravening energies to maintain her inner balance, burning tremendous amounts of her power in the process. She had made it as far as the tennis courts before all the strength left her legs and she collapsed on one of the benches crying hysterically. Keiichi finally caught up with her and as he sat down he placed his arm around her. He had only meant to reassure her, however, instead of her relaxing he felt Belldandy stiffen up as if she loathed his touch. Hurriedly he removed his arm from around her shoulders. He couldn't understand the reason for Belldandy's rejection but he supposed that the sharing of their two minds might have been a little more intimate than either he or Belldandy might ever want to get and she might be embarrassed. Still he felt that something wasn't right about her behavior.

"I'm sorry Belldandy," he apologized, "I don't know what to say, those images in my mind, the things you saw, they were just fantasies. Things that you were never meant to know about me."

"It's not that," she said through her sobs.

"Then what is it?"

"You know," she cried, "You know everything, everything about me. Everything I feel, everything I hope for and everything I've ever done!" she finished before starting to cry again hiding her face in her hands as she did so.

Keiichi tried to take her hands to reassure her but as he moved them from her face he reeled in revulsion. Belldandy's face and hands were covered in blood! Looking more closely Keiichi could see that she was bleeding from two huge wounds on her palms. Noticing his expression Belldandy followed his gaze looking down at her bloody palms, for the first time noticing the wounds herself.

"Oh no, no NO!" she cried.

She tried to get up and runaway but Keiichi wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly refusing to let go.

"Stop! Belldandy stop!" he cried desperately, "What's wrong? Why are you bleeding!"

"Its punishment!" she cried to him, "Punishment for my sin!"

"What sin? What could you have done to deserve this!"

"I killed them!" she screamed through her tears, "I cast them down and I killed them all!"

"Who, who do you think you killed!"

"The guardians, the guardians of the gate!"

"The gate, do you mean the Judgment Gate?"

Belldandy just nodded her head yes as she stared in horrified fascination at the blood flowing from her palms.

Using his newly acquired memories Keiichi scrolled backwards through Belldandy's past to that time seven years earlier when she had been betrayed.

"Knowing the answer isn't worth much if you don't know what the question is," he remembered one of his professors saying. "Knowing how to ask questions is what we teach you to do. With each new question come new answers and new knowledge." Keiichi knew the answer to Belldandy's conundrum lay within. But until she asked the questions of herself she would never be free of this horrible guilt. He knew he had to get her to look inside, to the dark place where he knew her answers lay. "Another thing to keep in mind," he also remembered his teacher telling him, "In a debate the setup is often more important than the actual question, state your opinion in such a fashion as to force your opponent to either defend his position or acknowledge the validity of yours."

Knowing he was going to hate himself for it later on Keiichi asked Belldandy disdainfully, "I wonder, why did a god who held a seat on the council need a fifteen year old girl to fight his battles for him?"

Belldandy's eyes suddenly met his as she recognized the edged undercurrent in his words, "What are you trying to say?" she asked him fearfully.

"It's a straight up question Belldandy;" he said sarcastically, "Celestin crushed the gate, actually made it implode, with only one hand while simultaneously copping a feel with the other! So I'll ask you again," Keiichi spoke his voice now taking on a more hardened edge, **"just what in the hell did he need you for!"**

Keiichi had never spoken so harshly to Belldandy before, but he knew that he had to force Belldandy to face herself down.

"He said he needed me to help him realize his goal." She answered him, her eyes not meeting his.

"But why you," Keiichi prodded her, "and why did he take you there in the first place?"

"He crushed it so easily," she said looking back, "and then when it was over we were just standing there on the dais and he was talking like there was nothing wrong. They were on us so suddenly, they called him villain and they tried to seal him and he was just standing there screaming in pain and and…"

"And what?"

"And he just stood there," she realized. "He was just standing there, screaming, I could tell he was in such awful pain," she said in a haunted voice. "But he never, he never lifted a hand to save himself."

"Why?"

"I don't… I don't know why."

"Are you sure?"

"Keiichi I said I don't know," she answered, trying to escape his question, "don't press me!"

"You know what I think," he charged, "I think the reason you don't know is because you don't want to know Belldandy!"

"What is it that you think I should know!" she cried, "I was just a child! How could I have known what he was thinking!"

"You're not a child anymore!" Keiichi replied sternly, "Why didn't he try to protect himself, why didn't he try to protect you!"

"I don't know! I don't know! I just don't know! Please stop asking me that!" Belldandy begged him.

Keiichi realized that Belldandy had dug herself in and would not allow herself to be pushed any further. So he decided to attack the problem from a different angle. "Isn't a lie still a lie, even if it's just to yourself?" he asked.

"Yes." Belldandy answered him meekly.

"I thought you told me that you First class goddesses can't lie," he pressed.

"I'm not lying!" she answered him even as she averted her eyes.

"Then why don't I believe you, why won't your eyes meet mine?"

Realizing she had been boxed in, Belldandy pleaded, "Keiichi please stop it, please I'm begging you don't make me go there. Don't make me look inside."

Keiichi was moved to tears by the desperation of her plea and almost relented. But he already knew what it was that Belldandy feared to tell him and he also knew that if he allowed her to keep the truth from herself any longer then he would be complicit in the lie as well. Knowing how tightly Belldandy held to her core beliefs any lie, even an unspoken one, would be enough to begin eroding the faith they had in each other.

"Belldandy I have had your memories inside my head for only a few minutes and I already know the answer. So how is it possible for you to not know it for yourself?"

"I can't lie," she admitted, "but I'm not omniscient like my father. I can be wrong regarding things about which I have no knowledge."

"That might have been a good excuse for the child Belldandy, but the goddess Belldandy, the Belldandy with the power to change the world; she can't afford to be that selfish. That Belldandy, the Belldandy I'm in love with would want to know why he did that to her, why he wouldn't lift a finger in order to save her."

Closing her eyes and looking deep inside herself Belldandy went to the place she had been so afraid of going and relived those awful moments. Seeing it all happen again after so many years the pain was just as real has it had been the first time, but this time she wasn't a scared little girl, this time she was the goddess Belldandy. Painful or not she would not be cowed. She would know the answer why for herself!

Focusing her eyes on some distant point in space as the memories played out in her mind she finally answered him. "I guess he was waiting."

"Waiting for what?" Keiichi asked her softly.

"He was waiting for me to… He was waiting for me to…" she repeated her voice starting to tremble. "Oh no, no, no, he tricked me!" She cried as the answer finally came to her. "I let him trick me! I let him trick me into killing those poor… those poor… No no NO! How could he betray me that way!" Belldandy cried as she buried her head in his shoulders holding him tight. Keiichi could feel the warmth of her blood as it soaked his clothes.

"I trusted him and he used me," she sobbed, "I let him use me to kill another!"

"The truth was always there for you to see Belldandy; you need only look for yourself." Keiichi whispered into her ear.

"Oh Keiichi," she cried, "this awful truth has been hidden from me for so long and even now I can't accept it. Beloved, I know now that I am a murderer, a destroyer of innocent lifes. Even though I'm unworthy, is it even possible, can you still truly love one such as I?"

"I know what you know now Belldandy," Keiichi answered her, unintentionally ignoring her plea, "but I still see things with my own eyes. You were the youngest goddess in all of Heaven to receive her first class license. I know you must have been very proud. But ask yourself this; why did he push you so hard? What was the hurry, why the big rush? Can't you see Celestin had been manipulating you all along? He was in my mind so I know how he felt about you; I know he saw your innocence as something precious; something he thought needed to be protected. But he used your innocence to his own ends nonetheless. Can't you see the real truth? He was waiting for them, he could have stopped them anytime, and he could have stopped you if he wanted. He wanted you to kill them, wanted you to seal your fate to his. He wanted you for himself!"

Belldandy's eyes went wide with this newest revelation. When she spoke again her voice was little more than a whisper, "I never, I never had a choice did I? I just did what he wanted and I never thought to ask why."

"That's right," Keiichi answered her, "he never taught you to question, to ask the reason why, he just indoctrinated you, taught you to act without thinking. He wanted to turn you into a mindless automaton, just a pretty toy in blue robes that he could use as he saw fit."

"I, I never really had a chance against him did I?" Belldandy asked tiredly.

"That's right Belldandy, you didn't."

Her inner turmoil finally resolved Belldandy collapsed in Keiichi's arms, her face and hands still covered in blood. That's how Sora found them a few minutes later having followed the pair after receiving her grade so she could share her good news with them.

Belldandy's collapse had resulted in a small but distinct gravity pulse that was felt by both Urd and Skuld back at the temple. Urd was instantly in flight through the TV but the nearest exit to Belldandy's location was some considerable distance away in the campus dorms so she had been forced to run the remainder of the way.

Meanwhile news of Belldandy's injuries had started to spread like wildfire throughout the campus and a crowd had started to form. Probably for the first time Sora was grateful for being president of the Motor Club. Using her cell phone she had summoned all the members and they had formed a cordon around the bench where Keiichi and Belldandy rested keeping the others at bay. Tamiya and Otaki were first on the scene and stood with their backs to either end of the bench facing the growing crowd.

It was Otaki who recognized Belldandy's condition. "It's a Stigmata," he said.

"A what?" asked Tamiya, not taking his eyes off of the crowd?

"A Stigmata, it's a spontaneous bleeding of the hands. They say it's the mark of a very special person."

"It don't take no genius to figure out Belldandy's something special." Tamiya had replied.

By the time Urd found them a fairly large crowd had grown around the pair with the Motor Club members forming a human wall around them keeping all the looky loos at bay. Urd had forced her way through to the center when one of the newer members of the motor club sought to block her path. Without so much as a blink Tamiya swatted the unfortunate member to the ground.

"That's Miss Urd," he growled to the prostrate freshman, "you treat her with respect."

Stepping over the prone unfortunate Urd was taken aback by what she saw. Belldandy herself was unconscious, Keiichi had apparently bandaged her hands for some reason, there was somebody's blood all over her face and clothes, Keiichi appeared to be covered in blood as well. Too much of what she was seeing added up to only one frightening conclusion. Knowing she wasn't going to like the answer she asked, "Keiichi what happened!"

In silent answer to her question, Keiichi held up Belldandy's bloody hands for Urd to see.

As soon as she saw them Urd recoiled in fright as her worst fears were confirmed.

"A Stigmata!" she cried in dismay. "Keiichi this is very serious, you need to be very careful."

"I think the worst is over now," Keiichi replied has he stroked Belldandy's hair.

"You don't understand," Urd said, "Keiichi you're holding a live bomb in your hands right now!"

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"Have you ever heard the term 'the power is in the blood?'"

Keiichi responded by nodding his head in affirmation.

"Well in a goddess… our case, that isn't just a metaphor. It's the living truth. Right now with Belldandy bleeding that power, her power, is not contained. Fortunately for you that power is dormant right now but it can be released in any number of ways."

"What do we do then?" Keiichi asked her.

"There is no we here buddy, I can't touch her! I would get knocked flat on my ass if I tried. You should be doing the nerve gas boogie right now. However, I suppose that you two have been together for so long that your pulses are in nearly perfect sync."

"Well what do I do then?"

"Fortunately water neutralizes the effect so you did the right thing by washing her off. Still we need to get her back to the temple so we can help her and since you are the only one who can safely touch her you are going to have to take her there."

"I can't carry her all the way back to the temple from here!"

"I know that let me think!"

Urd furled her brow as she pondered the problem for a moment then came up with a plan.

"Okay listen up everyone," she addressed the curious crowd, "Belldandy isn't well right now and she needs your help! Otaki, you go get Keiichi's bike and bring it here! Sora, I need you to get a large drop cloth big enough to hold Belldandy and bring it to me. You," she said pointing down to the unfortunate member who had tried to block her way, "can you hot wire a car?"

"Yes I can Miss Urd." He answered respectfully.

"Good, then stop staring up my skirt and go find me a water tanker truck and bring it here now!"

"Yes Ma'am." he said as he took off running towards the nearest fire station.

"Tamiya?"

"Yes Miss Urd?" the big man answered.

"I need for you to make dam sure that nobody comes near this bench. When that idiot gets back with the truck I want you to hose down this entire area. Do you understand me?"

"You can count on me Miss Urd."

"Everybody else," she said glaring at the crowd, "I need for all of you to help clear a path wide enough so we can get Keiichi's bike up here so we can load Belldandy into it and get her to safety. It's very important that we get her out of here immediately so please make sure nobody gets in the way. All right people move it now!"

"Yes Miss Urd," came the chorus of replies.

"Wow," remarked Keiichi as he notice the dutiful actions of the crowd, "that must have been some powerful spell you cast just now to get them to do all that without question."

"That was no spell Keiichi," Urd smiled back at him, "they are all each and every one of them helping of their own free will. I guess that shows just how much Belldandy is really loved."

"Yeah," he said looking down on Belldandy's face now so fully at peace, "I guess it does."

From the background, safely shielded from Urd's senses, the two denizens of the netherworld had been watching as their little drama unfolded.

"What now Lady Hild?" asked Mara.

"We do nothing for now," Hild replied, "That crowd out there would tear us to pieces if we tried. We'll snatch Keiichi from the temple."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ah! 10948 edited. ch3.**

From Keiichi's perspective the time it took for him to travel the short distance from the campus to the temple had never taken so long, fortunately the ride home had been uneventful. Per Urd's instructions Otaki had quickly brought Keiichi's bike around and Sora had produced a large drop cloth used by the Motor club to work on their vehicles. With Keiichi being the only one touching Belldandy directly he had laid her in the center of the cloth. Tamiya and Otaki then used it to lift Belldandy's limp body into his sidecar. Once she was safely secured all the towels and rags were loaded in with her. They were just about ready to leave when the Fire Truck Urd had requested rolled up, its lawful owners in hot pursuit. Tamiya had taken one of the charged hoses and while attempting to rinse off the area had already knocked down half a dozen spectators by the time the fire crew got there. The understandably upset firemen were in the process of repossessing their truck when Urd explained why she needed it. Once they knew Belldandy needed their help the professionals quickly took control and the area was promptly washed down and all of Belldandy's escaped power neutralized. Even knowing her sister as she did, it still sometimes just amazed Urd the number of lives Belldandy had touched.

Once they were home Keiichi had carried Belldandy into the bath where he had to remove her clothes under the watchful eye of Skuld. When he was done he gently placed her in the tub, splashing her face and hands with water in order to neutralize her escaped power. Once Urd was certain that Belldandy's blood was no longer a threat she and Skuld had taken over the duties of washing her. Keiichi was on his way out when Urd told him to stay.

"Why do I need to stay in here?" Keiichi asked.

"Because you and your clothes are soaked in her blood." Urd answered. "I need for you to strip down to your birthday suit and pile your clothes on top of hers on the drop cloth there. Then get in the tub and I will wash your back."

"I think I can wash my own back Urd."

"This isn't the time for being modest Keiichi!" Urd snapped, "We need to make sure that none of her goddess power is released onto this plane. Now that we have washed her off Belldandy is safe to handle. I want your bare ass in the water just as soon as I get back from Belldandy's room. I'll wash your back and you can do the rest yourself. Once you're done we will need to collect all of the contaminated clothes and burn them!"

"Why burn them, can't we just wash them?" Keiichi asked, not wanting to see his motorcycle jacket go up in flames.

"No we can't, your clothes are soaked in her blood which means that they are soaked in her power as well. We can't allow that type of power to be let loose unregulated!" ("What we are going to do about all that unregulated power that has soaked into you I have no idea." Urd thought to herself.)

Once Keiichi had accepted the facts he climbed into the tub and tried to lose himself in the moment as Urd gently washed his back. He couldn't do it however; a rage had started to build inside him. Fueled by Belldandy's unregulated power and his own sense of impotence it grew steadily hotter within him, taking on a focus akin to that of a laser beam. Without knowing he was even doing so, Keiichi was forging the power within him into a horrible weapon.

* * *

><p><strong><span>On the porch.<span>**

Although it was late in the evening it being early summer the days were long and the sun was still shining after Keiichi had finished his bath. In the distance he could feel a storm in the offing, being called into existence by the imbalance caused by Belldandy's released powers. After checking to make sure Belldandy was resting comfortably he left her in the care of her sisters and had retired to the front porch in order to gather his thoughts. As soon as Urd was sure that Belldandy was safe and secure she had passed off her care to Skuld and joined him as he stared at the setting sun.

Keiichi had wrapped himself in a parka and had armed himself with a bat as he sat on the porch waiting for the next shoe to drop. Although he would really have preferred to have Belldandy by his side in a fight against Hild still he was thankful that Belldandy couldn't see him this way. He knew the hate he was feeling was wrong but as much as he tried to let go of it he couldn't. Hild and Mara would be here soon. He knew it, he could feel it, but this time he was ready. He wasn't afraid, in fact he was actually hoping for them to arrive before Belldandy woke.

Goddesses read auras as a matter of course, with their enhanced eyesight to them reading an aura is no different than reading the expression on someone's face. Humans if they train their eyes properly can see auras too. The auras themselves are easy to read if you know what to look for, green for envy, blue when you're feeling down, gold for the warmth of love, red for anger, black for hate. Had Urd not been so angry herself she would've been able to see that Keiichi's aura had turned a dangerous looking shade of dark crimson tinged with black. So intense was his rage in fact that even the clouds above had begun to crackle. All Keiichi could think about was the lingering smell of the blood on his clothes as they had burned in the fire and the image of Belldandy's bloodstained face.

"You know," Urd remarked trying to strike up a conversation, "it is said that one of the most valuable commodities in the entire universe is the blood of a goddess."

"Not so valuable as the love of a goddess," Keiichi replied curtly.

Urd couldn't, or wouldn't take the hint so she continued. "I'm glad you feel that way Keiichi," she said, "I really am. Belldandy… Belldandy has some issues. I'm afraid that our last little adventure might be the reason they are coming to a head now and… well things could get a little rough."

"It was a trap," Keiichi told her through clenched teeth. "Hild and Mara set a trap. Hell, Mara even warned me and we still walked right into it."

"A trap!" Urd asked incredulously, "What kind of trap and why?"

"Don't know and don't care but," he paused staring at the sky, "they'll be here any moment now so why don't you ask them yourself!" His tone indicating that talking time was done.

"Keiichi, the situation between the two of you has been dicey since Celestin made fools of the lot of us. If you know what my mother is up to tell me now!"

"No time," Keiichi answered her in a cold rage, "they are here, now!"

Like Keiichi, Urd too felt her mother's presence as she and Mara pierced the Temple's barrier. "This is the last time," she heard him vow as he gripped the bat ever tighter. "The last time you will ever hurt her!"

Hild and Mara weren't stupid, after witnessing what happened they both knew that the goddesses' defenses would be up. They also knew that they needed to strike fast while Belldandy was still out, before she could purge Keiichi's mind of any critical data. They had formed a simple plan. This was to be a hit and run, Mara's job would be to seal Keiichi while Hild would distract Urd. With any luck, Hild hoped, the two of them would be there and gone before the other two goddesses had time to react.

One thing they didn't count on, however, was Keiichi waiting for them. Actually eager for them to arrive so he could extract bloody retribution. When Hild and Mara appeared they went straight into their attack. Hild sent a depth charge attack against her daughter as a distraction even as Mara's spell of sealing was in flight towards Keiichi. What happened next took everyone by surprise. Keiichi was on his feet ahead of Urd, his bat in motion as he struck at the sphere headed towards him.

Normally, since the physical and metaphysical don't exist on the same plane Keiichi's bat should have passed through the ball. Empowered by Belldandy's blood however, Keiichi's anger was so strong that it permeated all existences around him. With the precision of a trained athlete his bat connected squarely with the sphere, sending it hurling back straight into Mara's stomach, folding her up like some unlucky pitcher at a baseball game.

But Mara wasn't the real focus of Keiichi's anger. He knew that for all the trouble Mara caused it was never mean spirited. Hild, Hild was to blame and today would be the day that he would finally make her pay. Like the Berserkers of old he now charged straight at Hild, his obvious intention to cave-in her skull. Fast as he was though Hild was faster still, she levitated away and began casting a spell of reversal. Her intention to deflect all the negative energy that Keiichi had focused on her and send it back at him.

Unfortunately, Keiichi's actions had created a situation that Hild could not have foreseen. Had Keiichi not been soaked in Belldandy's power she could have just stayed a safe distance a way. However, distances aren't measured the same in the metaphysical world as they are here. Keiichi didn't know it but the bludgeon he carried could be used on any target where he had a good line of site. Hild was instantly on the defensive, her spell of reversal already forming.

Deflecting metaphysical energy is subject to the same laws as are present in the physical world. In order to repel the force directed at her Hild needed to use an equal force of the same type and polarity. Much the same as when two magnets with like poles are brought into close proximity to each other. So as she began to cast it the first part of Hild's spell went something like: (Hate x Hate = 2Hate), {Goddesses work this equation differently by multiplying Hate by its reciprocal. (Hate x 1/Hate)=1}. Another controlling factor was the angle of incidence to the intended target. Basically the less oblique the angle the greater amount of energy is needed to deflect the force of the blow. Had Mara been able to move she could have placed herself at 45 degrees to the angle of incidence and deflect the energy by 90 degrees and only absorb 25% of the force. But since Hild was the focus of all the negative energy she had no choice but to try to deflect the force 180 degrees back the way it came. This brought into play another controlling factor, the law of conservation of magic and energy. In effect this meant that Hild would have to absorb all of Keiichi's negative energy, (I'm going to kill you!). Counter the entire blow with energy of equal power, (Not if I kill you first!). Then redirect it along its reciprocal path with a power equal to the sum of the power directed towards her plus the power expended in defusing the energy, [(Not if I kill you first!) x 2]. While simultaneously using a considerable amount of her own energy to power the conversion process [(Not if I kill you first!) x 2] + X. In other words, Overkill!

Without realizing it Keiichi had placed Hild in a box where in order to defend herself she would have to take his life along with either Mara's or Urd's to compensate for the energy deficit. The span of time it took Hild to make all these calculations was less than a fly takes to flap its wings trice. A slightly longer delay ensued as she pondered the choice between her daughter Urd and her servant Mara as a sacrifice to make up for the additional energy required. Her decision made she finished her spell of reversal and began release of the safety locks that would send it on its way.

Salvation for the two unlucky ones came from an unlikely source. Urd, realizing the danger Keiichi was in had redirected one of her depth charge attacks towards him, barely dialing down the power in time to prevent him from being injured. Amazingly enough, he remained standing, his berserker rage kept him going on for two more strikes by Urd before he finally collapsed, the look of betrayal still etched on his face.

The issue decided Hild dropped back down to earth intending to collect Keiichi and Mara then be on her way. She had barely settled to the ground, however, when a sudden gravity pulse caught her attention. Looking back the direction the wave had traveled she discovered that her daughter Urd, thoroughly ticked off goddess second class, limited license, had just suffered a catastrophic failure of her power seals. Hild quickly realized that she was staring at arguably the most powerful goddesses in all of Heaven. One whose powers were now only being restrained by force of will.

Now even unrestricted Urd was still no match for her mother and Hild knew it. However, you don't become the CEO of the Demon Realm without being a clever tactician. In the last few seconds Hild had lost total control of the situation. She had seen her servant taken out by a supposedly helpless mortal and had almost been forced to destroy the very prize she coveted. The tactician in her said it was time to retreat before the situation got any worse. So Hild quickly withdrew, taking only Mara with her.

With Hild gone, Urd, having nowhere to focus her anger, concentrated all her unrestricted power in a single blast towards the sky. It's resulting impact shaking the foundations of Heaven.

The fight itself had been incredibly short, lasting only a few seconds. Skuld, who had been watching over Belldandy when she heard the commotion, had run as fast as she could to the aid of her sister. But by the time she reached the front door Hild was gone and had taken Mara with her.

Looking about at the devastation that had been their garden just moments before, Skuld saw her sister standing in the middle of the wreckage. Skuld followed Urd's gaze and found that she was looking down at Keiichi's body, as he lay motionless in a crater of her making. Tears were flowing freely down her face.

"My God what just happened!" She shouted to her sister.

"One Zero Nine Four Eight," Urd replied softly before her anger overtook her again, "ONE! ZERO! NINE! FOUR! EIGHT!" She shouted once more before going over to Skuld and hugging her tightly. "10948."

Skuld knew she couldn't press her for any more information. Young as she was she still knew that when Heaven ordained a certain subject restricted there was nothing more Urd could say. Keiichi was another matter however, but she knew she needed to approach him cautiously. When it came to matters involving Belldandy he was surprisingly closed mouthed. Without saying a word Keiichi crawled out of the crater and dusted himself off. He walked up to Urd and squeezed her shoulder before going to the bath to once again cleanse himself in the water still slightly pinkish from Belldandy's blood.

The two goddesses watched silently as he disappeared into the bath. As soon as he was out of sight Urd got up and went to her room to mix herself a potion. She knew her spirit was filled with too much anger. She had been just a heartbeat away from striking down her own mother and she desperately needed something to calm herself down before trying to explain her actions.

A short while later Keiichi emerged from his second bath in as many hours and sat down on the porch next to Skuld.

"What's happening Keiichi!" Skuld cried. "Belldandy's had a Stigmata, Urd has just blown the hell out of our garden and apparently you as well and I don't have a clue to what is going on."

"You know," he said ignoring her question, "my grandfather once told me that you never truly appreciate what you have until you're fixing to lose it. You, Belldandy, Urd all of you have made my life so much more than I deserve and I can never repay you for that. About all I can do is leave you with this one piece of advice. It's the same nugget that my father gave me before I left home for college. Skuld, I know how you hate being called a kid, but adulthood is inevitable. You really shouldn't try to grow up so fast; you'll get there fast enough, faster than you can believe. But right now is a special time for you and you'll never get this time back again. You really need to slow down and try to enjoy it while you still can. If you can remember that much at least, then your time down here won't have been wasted."

"Keiichi what's going on! Why are you talking like that?" Skuld asked in alarm.

"You were right," he answered her, "You were right all along."

"Keiichi, what are you trying to say? Right about what?"

"What's Heaven like Skuld," Keiichi asked, "I don't mean what is it like as in what does it look like, I mean what does Heaven make you feel like in here," he asked pointing to his heart.

"In many ways it makes me feel like I do when we are here at the temple," she replied, "but that feeling is with you all the time no matter where you go. You will never be in a place where peace and beauty are not a part of the landscape. It really is very beautiful and sometimes I miss it very much. But not as much as I miss big sister!"

"It sounds like a wonderful place." Keiichi remarked as he stared at the clouds in the sky, "Who knows, with any luck maybe I can stop by and visit you all someday."

Skuld could sense the underlying meaning in his words but before she could press him for more information she heard Urd's voice calling her.

"Skuld," came the voice her sister from the doorway, "can I get you to watch over Belldandy? We need to insure that if she starts bleeding again none of it is released onto this plane."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry I'll get back to work right away."

Skuld got up leaving Keiichi on the porch and hurriedly returned to Belldandy's room where she discovered that her sister was stirring from her slumber.

When Belldandy finally managed to rouse herself to full wakefulness she had been half expecting Keiichi to be there waiting for her. Then she remembered what they had shared and began to worry that Keiichi might not look upon her the same way anymore.

"Skuld, where is Keiichi?" she asked while trying to hide her disappointment.

"Out on the porch talking to Urd." Skuld answered her back.

"Oh, I see," she said dejectedly.

Attempting to stand on still wobbly legs Belldandy tried to lean on Skuld for support as she stood up. But instead of assisting her older sister Skuld had taken Belldandy's hand and gently forced her to sit back down.

"Belldandy, don't go out there right away." she pleaded.

"Why not?" Belldandy asked in surprise.

"It's just…I don't like the way Keiichi is talking right now. You need to keep your distance for a little while, until he has had a chance to calm down."

"What do you mean?" The alarm clearly evident in Belldandy's voice.

"From the sound of his voice I think he has made a decision to do something. Something I don't think you are going to like."

"What's that?"

"Look Belldandy," Skuld spoke as she tried to deflect the question, "Keiichi just needs a little time to get his head straight. You just need to give him a little space for right now!"

"Skuld, if you think you know something then please tell me, Please!"

"I think… I think Keiichi is going to revoke your contract Belldandy!"

"Oh no," Belldandy sobbed as her heart felt as if it were being rend in two, "Does he really hate me now!"

"Sister, please tell me what's happening!" Skuld cried in frustration, "Why did you have a Stigmata? Why would Keiichi start hating you all of a sudden? Urd depth charged Keiichi just now and she was crying. Urd never cries, never! Why was she crying? Please somebody tell me what is going on!"

"What, Urd attacked Keiichi!" Belldandy asked, the concern evident in her voice, "then I have no choice, I must go to him right away."

"But Belldandy if he is going to send you away…"

"Mr. Morisato can terminate our contract at any time," Belldandy said bluntly, "but until he does I still need to look after him, even if he does hate me."

"But Belldandy, why does Keiichi hate you now!"

Looking at the young Norn with tears in her eyes, "One zero nine four eight," Belldandy spoke sadly, "10948."

That said Belldandy staggered out of the room to go tend to Keiichi, her desire to be with him overpowering her fear of having to face the one she loved who now knew her to be a murderess.

As she approached the doorway she heard muffled voices coming from the other side. Instinctively she knew the conversation was about her and being a woman she couldn't help but pause and listen.

"Belldandy might start bleeding again?" She heard Keiichi's voice ask from the other side of the doorway.

"I don't really think there is much possibility of that," she heard Urd reply. "I just wanted to keep the kid busy so I could talk to you alone."

"Well, I'm listening."

"I'm sorry Keiichi, but I had to do what I had to do otherwise Hild would have killed you and Mara too if I didn't stop you."

"It's all right," Belldandy heard him answer with a sigh, "I can't say I'm too happy about it but I know you did the right thing. I wouldn't want for Belldandy to have as one of her last memories of me to be that of a murderer."

"Last memory, huh," Urd repeated, the frost clearly evident in her voice, "I think I get it now, you're going to send her home aren't you! I guess maybe you just don't want her anymore because your perfect little goddess has a few flaws!"

"You have no reason to talk to me that way Urd, not at all!"

"Oh, but you are planning on sending her away aren't you? I heard you talking to Skuld about what Heaven is like."

"That was just…"

"That was just you trying to ease your conscience! Don't lie to me, I know better! What are you going to do? Write return to sender on her forehead! You just going to write her off as damaged goods?"

"I would have hoped that you knew me better than that!"

"I thought I did but now I'm not so sure. It looks to me that now that you know her dirty little secret you are going to throw her away!"

"That is just not true! You should know better."

"Well then, why don't you explain it to me, if you can?"

"Very well," Keiichi sighed, reining his growing anger back in, "It all goes back to Celestin's little visit."

"How so?"

"You know how Belldandy crashes after she over uses her powers?"

"Yes."

"Well after Belldandy had expended herself against Gungnir we wound up at the judgment gate where she collapsed. It seemed to me like she was out for hours but it was probably just a few minutes. I was in a panic as you might have guessed. A powerless mortal like me being in a strange place like that with no one around except Morgan. I had just promised her that I would always protect her and now I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep my word, but when I looked at her sleeping so peacefully I just knew we would be all right somehow. It was while she lay asleep in my arms that Celestin told me the story of the gate. I think he was still trying to regain control of my mind so he didn't hold anything back. He told me all about how he tricked Belldandy into striking down the guardians in all its gory detail. About how Belldandy called forth Holybell as an avenging angel and how easily she dispatched them all.

It was as I sat there, listening to him, while holding her in my arms, knowing all that she had done, that I realized my feelings did not waver. Not in the slightest! That's how I knew that if anyone were ever going to be able to pass through the gate it would be the two of us."

"Let me get this straight," said Urd in astonishment, "you are telling me that you knew of her sin before you walked the gate?"

"Yes I did, I knew she had been tricked into committing that awful crime. It made me want to protect her even more. Knowing what a gentle soul she has, I can't imagine what the pain must have been like for her when she realized what she had done."

"She was comatose," Urd said looking away. "Her spirit had fled to the inner most reaches of her mind back to when she was only eight years old. I know because I had to force feed her the potion to get her to come out of it. She was absolutely horrified by what she had done. She couldn't believe it in fact, so I hid it from her."

"That's kind of my point; those of us who know her all know she could never commit such a crime. But still the fact remains that she did. Still knowing all that, I don't think there isn't a single person whose life she's touched who wouldn't come to her aid if called."

"Then why?"

"Because I can't keep my promise to protect her, that's why!" he sobbed. "When Celestin assaulted Belldandy the safety of Heaven was out of reach. I would have revoked our contract then had I been able. I had hoped that since we passed the Judgment Gate that we would finally be able to live together in peace. However, I know now that this can never be. I can't believe that I am so dam slow! Today I finally realized that as long as she remains here, be they gods or demons or mortals, they will just keep coming and coming and coming until they finally kill her!" he shouted.

Looking to Urd for an answer he knew wasn't there he asked, "How can I ask her to stay knowing that? What kind of man would I be if I allowed her too? Skuld was right all along, Belldandy deserves better, so I am going to do what I should have done long ago. I am going to send her back to the world where she will be safe. That is why I am going to..." Keiichi never got to finish his sentence, the shock wave off of Urd's hand stopping a hairs breath away from his larynx instantly paralyzing his vocal cords.

For her part Urd had known the instant that Belldandy had awoke and was aware that she had been listening all along. Knowing her sister's heart she quickly cast a spell of silence preventing him from speaking the words that would have automatically voided their contract. Then she levitated herself away just in time to prevent Belldandy from tackling the two of them as she threw herself at Keiichi.

"No! You are wrong! You are wrong! Listen to me please!" Belldandy cried into his shoulder, "Beloved, The battle between Heaven and hell has been going on since the world was split in trine. My power is the only protection that I have. Its strength flows from your love. Take that from me and I will surely fail. Please don't send me away. I'll surely die if you do!

Taking her hands and trying to speak the words that wouldn't come Keiichi tried to make her understand that he loved her too much to watch her die. That she needed to leave before they were torn apart.

Belldandy understood the will of his heart, of his feelings of impotence in the face of powers he couldn't understand and of his need to keep his vow to always protect her. Capturing his gaze with her own she looked him in the eyes, her stare boring through to his very soul.

"Keiichi, I know you will find what I have to say next hard to believe so I will remind you, as you reminded me, I am a First Class Goddess and I cannot lie. Despite the hazards of living on the surface world the rewards we've reaped have been well worth the risk and your being here for us has made them possible. Ever since I came to earth you have always been there for me, you have protected all of us in more ways than you know. When the Lord of Terror took Urd it was for your sake that I found the courage to stand against Heaven and break my seal. Urd would never have reconciled with World of Elegance were it not for you. Skuld might never have found the strength within herself to support Noble Scarlet were it not for the time she has spent here on earth. Don't you understand! Had I not come here to earth to be with you then none of these wonderful things would have come to pass!"

Keiichi couldn't answer her so he held her tightly as the realization of what he had almost caused to happen washed over him, his body shaking in fear of the calamity he had almost called down on his own head. Without any warning Keiichi's will suddenly broke, the frustration, the anger, the feelings of impotence, that which he had almost lost all became too heavy a burden for him to carry any further. Clutching Belldandy as if she might be taken from him any second he began to cry, anguish without sound as his body convulsed with silent sobs. Belldandy realized it too and joined with him, her voice expressing the anguish they both felt. As they embraced their tears soaking the others shirt the pair became aware of a strange scent on the breeze and the soft rustling of the trees that announced the arrival of another.

"You have protected me too," said a new voice from behind them.

"Lind?" said Belldandy in surprise as she turned to face the sound.

Keiichi, unable to speak was only able to give Lind a questioning look.

"How so?" asked Urd for him, curious as to the answer herself.

"In the entire history of Heaven only twice as one deity struck down another," began Lind as she glared at Belldandy who shrank away, "I was on track to become the third had Keiichi not interfered. My mission that day had been to destroy the Lord of Terror no matter who he had possessed. I thought I was going to have to kill you Urd, but by the time I made it to Earth the Lord of Terror had severed itself and would have possessed Skuld had Keiichi not thrown himself in front of it. Even with her powers dormant a second class goddess like her would have posed too extreme a threat for me to allow her to live! Imagine how that would have sounded on my resume?" she snickered, "Binary Lind, Guardian to the Almighty, Protector of the Celestial seal, Child Killer! It was not only for Belldandy's sake that I stayed my blade that day.

"For years Belldandy's soul has been stained with the blood of the fallen, its stench so loud as to be repugnant to me! Killing her that day would have made her sin in to my sin. Keiichi saved my soul that day and in so doing bought Belldandy a second chance to save her own."

Capturing the gaze of the two lovers as they still clung to one another she continued, "Belldandy's willingness to die for Keiichi is an expression of her need to cleanse herself, as if forgiveness can be obtained that easily!" she snorted in disgust. "She has always been too willing to die for those she loves, but now that the two of them have passed the Judgment Gate maybe she will be willing to live for them as well. After all, that is the path of true salvation."

"Yes, you're right." Belldandy sighed, "I've embraced death all too willingly. I thought that it would be noble to die for those I love. Thanks to Keiichi I now know that I was looking to take the easy way out. It wasn't until he pleaded with me to stay and we were before the gate that I knew I needed to be willing to live. Even before I knew the truth myself I've always been afraid that this day would come, afraid of what Keiichi might think when my true ugliness was revealed. I guess I was hoping to die before then, before now. There's no point in dying now is there? My ugliness is laid bare for all to see."

Keiichi, still mute, went to her and holding her head in his hand forced her to look into his eyes. Belldandy returned his gaze unflinchingly and in his eyes she saw: one part reproachment, five parts chastisement and a million parts love.

"Is it true? Is it really true?" Belldandy asked. "Can you still love one such as I?"

Keiichi could only look into her eyes as he forced her to meet his gaze and in his eyes she saw that she was loved.

She suddenly wrapped her arms around him and holding him tight she whispered into his ear the simple words, "Thank you."

"Lind," began Urd, "I don't think you came all this way to moralize. Why are you here?"

"It's regrettable, but that last stunt of yours prompted Yggdrasil to perform an automatic review of your file. Apparently they found some discrepancies. I have orders to arrest you and bring you before the Almighty One."

"On what charge!" Urd asked in disbelief.

"Second class goddess Urd," Lind spoke according to protocol, "You have been charged with attempting to thwart the will of Heaven."

"Excuse me! But since I work there isn't my will the will of Heaven also?"

"You know as well as I do that there are limits on the powers of a second class goddess. You have been charged with overstepping your authority. Now please submit to sealing!"

"Father could have just asked me to stop by." Urd spoke casually even as she raised her hands to be bound, "He didn't need to send an armed escort and he sure doesn't need to worry about me being a threat to him!"

"This wasn't his idea," Lind told her, "I was ordered down here by the council itself!"

"Oh crap!" Urd reacted as her casual demeanor started to crack, "Just how much trouble am I in?"

"I don't really know, but if the council is going against the Almighty One…"

"I understand," said Urd as Lind finished placing the binding spell on her.

"Oh, by the way Keiichi?" asked Lind as she looked back at him.

Keiichi could only stare back at her blankly.

"It wasn't a demon or a mortal who led Belldandy astray. It was another God. Just some food for thought if you are still wondering which world is the safer for her."


	4. Chapter 4

**Ah! 10948 edited. ch4.**

In the presence of the Almighty One:

"Almighty One," began Lind formally, "per the direction of the council I have brought Goddess second class Urd to face your divine judgment."

"Very well Lind," came the booming voice from the obelisk, "you may leave us now."

This sudden dismissal caught Lind by surprise. Like the bailiffs on earth it was supposed to be her job to maintain order in the antechamber. To be dismissed out of hand like this was a serious breach of protocol. She started to object but caught herself before the utterance escaped her lips. After all it was going against the will of the Almighty One that resulted in situations like the one Urd found herself in now.

"Very well," Lind replied as she rose and left the chamber.

When Lind left the chamber that didn't mean she left her responsibilities behind. As soon as she stepped into the outer room she placed the shaft of her ax against the wall and leaned heavily upon it. Using her goddess power she heightened her senses and continued to monitor the proceedings by listening to the conversations by means of bone induction.

After Lind was gone Urd bowed formally to the obelisk and said, "Father, I await your merciful judgment."

In Heaven as is in any other society there are rules of protocol, when it came to addressing the Almighty One the correct form was either Almighty One or the less formal Sire. This rule was applied to all the denizens of Heaven save the three Norns. The reason being, not surprisingly, was because he really was their father!

"Over here," came a familiar voice from behind her.

"Father?" She said turning to face the new sound.

Looking about she spied the familiar old vestige of a god whose face hadn't been seen in Heaven in many years. "Father!" she screamed again this time in joy as she ran towards the old god who sat there in the garden lounging on the bench like he owned the place, (he did actually). Urd was so overjoyed she felt her heart would burst, for there sat the only man Urd ever truly loved, her very own father.

She ran towards her father intending to hug him when she suddenly realized that her hands were bound. She stopped herself short and stroked his haggard old face instead.

"Oh father, why did you let yourself get so old?" she asked him bluntly.

Smiling with a wisdom born of many lifetimes he replied. "You are too young to realize this yet, my daughter, but after about ten or twenty iterations old age and death become like old friends. Come sit with me and let us visit for awhile."

"So father, what is so serious that you would be willing to step down from your position as the Almighty One to be just another parent even if for just a little while."

"I want you to help me to understand why we find ourselves here. I guess it is just the nature of the universe that children seem to think they know more than their parents do. I know in my case my own father warned me about having girls. But did I listen to him nooo; I had not one, not two but three daughters. Whose purpose it would seem is to keep the entire universe in a state of constant chaos."

"And didn't grandma also tell you not to get involved with that woman?" Urd ribbed him.

"Oh, she told you that did she?"

"Yes she did, but you didn't listen to her either, so here I am."

"She didn't by any chance tell you when she is coming home did she?"

"She did mention something about being on contract to the Mayans until 2012. After that she mentioned wanting to retire."

"Mother Nature retire? That will be the day. She might take a couple of iterations off but I guarantee that she'll be up to her elbows in something new before you know it."

"You mentioned Father Time just now how is he doing by the way?"

"Enjoying his retirement. The Job Corps keep offering him new iterations but he keeps turning them down. He says he is waiting for the perfect fit. Personally I think he just enjoys watching the three of you make me squirm. It must be the nature of my karma to be ever the idealist, and let's be honest; nobody ever accused your old man of being the sharpest knife in the drawer."

That last comment caused Urd to look down at her bound hands. Her father took them in his own and touching the bonds with his little finger the restraints faded away. Urd sat silently for a moment as she studied her hands, seeming to notice as if for the first time the difference between the color of her skin and his own.

"I am the goddess Urd," she said to herself, "the black and the white, the noble mistake."

"But never a disappointment," her father chided.

"Father," Urd asked, suddenly turning serious, "just how much trouble am I in?"

"Well," her father began in earnest, "one of the less draconian punishments being considered are stripping you of your powers and sending you to live with your mother—permanently!"

"Who the hell is proposing that!"

"Me," he said sadly, "however, I'm biased so I'm afraid the council is likely to overrule me and impose a more severe sentence."

"Just what the devil am I being accused of anyway?"

"Just what Lind told you, the deliberate subversion of the will of Heaven!

"You see, my girl, when Yggdrasil did its last review of your file a whole list of minor offenses were revealed. Nothing too serious mind you but taken as a whole it seems that you have been subverting the principals of Fate, Destiny and Freewill. These are the very cornerstones of our existence and you have walked all over these inconvenient truths whenever they got between you and your goal. That's why I want to see you this way, as your father and not as the Almighty One. I was hoping that maybe you could explain yourself to me in a way that only a father might understand. I'm hoping that if your explanation is good enough I could intervene with myself and get your punishment reduced."

"Well first, Urd began, I need to know what the nature of the charges are against me because frankly I can't begin to fathom what it is I'm supposed to have done to be accused of this crime."

"It's this Keiichi thing with your sister! Don't pretend that you haven't been meddling with their destiny because the evidence is all there."

"What evidence?"

"Just now before you were taken into custody didn't you prevent Keiichi from revoking Belldandy's contract?"

"Yes I did! But that wasn't what he wanted and it wasn't what Belldandy wanted either!"

"Nonetheless you prevented him from suffering the consequences of his own actions. Sometimes humans have to suffer for their mistakes. You kept that from happening."

"Looking out after your friends and family is what people do. Don't tell me I'm in trouble for doing the right thing!"

"If it were only that, you wouldn't be here. But there is other evidence as well."

"Such as?"

"Very well, let's see. First we have the deliberate and planned convergence of two divergent fates."

"Now honestly father that's really nothing more than a traffic ticket. I meddle in fates all the time. It's my job, remember?"

"Okay I'll concede that one to you. Next you are charged with altering the ephemeris of a lucky star and its companion unlucky star. The boys in the Orbit Analyst shop were really peeved by this."

"Again what's the big deal, so the number crunchers had to do some orbit remodeling. What happened did they run out of fingers and toes to count on?"

"The deliberate crashing and subsequent disabling of the system force with regard to your sister's contract."

"Hey, now that's not fair I paid my debt on that one."

"And finally the deliberate merging of two alternate realities."

"I'm the goddess of the past, alternate realities are what I deal in."

"Yes it is, but only with regard to the mortals. You are not allowed to create separate realities for Heaven!"

"Oh," Urd said in resignation, "how did you find out about that."

"By accident really," he smiled, "right after they merged there was a sudden jump in efficiency due to there being twice as many people showing up for work every day. The admin. people were fixing to start handing out bonuses to themselves when one of the accountants realized that the hours billed didn't jive with the hours worked. I almost had a full scale revolt on my hands when I told them that they couldn't keep things that way from now on."

"Dammit, I knew I should have hired Arthur Anderson to cook the books!" Urd swore under her breath.

"But basically," her father continued, "what it all boils down to is that your sister and that human's paths should never have crossed. Or at the most she should have been there and gone instead of having been stuck down on the surface world for all this time. Their fates should never have become intertwined and every time Destiny starts to pull them apart you are in the middle of it making sure that it doesn't happen. Divine beings like you and your sisters were never meant to be living among the surface dwellers. So tell me, can you explain yourself?"

"Well," Urd began, "to start with I am one of the fates. So I'll cross the paths of anyone I choose. Last time I checked gods and goddesses fell under that mandate too. As for Destiny not liking it; that narcissistic bitch can just kiss my ass!"

"Urd!" her father started to interrupt.

"No, I'm serious Father. If she had been more interested in Belldandy and less interested in getting into your bed then none of the rest would ever have been necessary."

"Are you telling me that it wasn't my natural animal magnetism that was motivating her, ah, invitations?"

"Father, get real," Urd sighed, "I've been going head to head with Venus and Aphrodite long enough to tell the difference between lust and shall we say, less pure motives. She was after something!"

"You really think so?"

"Yes I do, the signs were all there, Celestin had been disrupting the council meetings for the longest time and she goes and hands a first iteration goddess like Belldandy over to him to mentor without thinking! All she really wanted to do was get on your good side by getting on her backside!"

"Ah! Vanity, it's not just for the young anymore," her father sighed, "but if it's any consolation she didn't get what she wanted."

"What did she want by the way?"

"She wanted to secure Skuld's iteration for one of her own people. She said it was a waste of time to put your sister in that slot because she would never be able to develop enough to support her own angel."

"Well, I'm happy to say we proved her wrong on that one," Urd said proudly.

Suddenly Urd had an insight. "Is Destiny behind all this?"

"She could be," her father conceded, "it is her job after all."

"Well then, my defense, where to begin," Urd pondered out loud, "Tell me father, when is the last time we took a walk down memory lane?"

Lind was suddenly on the alert. Outside the antechamber the Almighty One was vulnerable and his protection was her top priority. While Urd was unquestionably the daughter of the Almighty One she was also the get of the Ruler of the Demon realm. Lind was immediately suspicious of Urd's seemingly innocent request because she knew it could place the ruler of Heaven in harms way. Besides, Urd's offer to her father was unprecedented; even in Heaven opening up one's mind to another was almost unheard of. Divine beings have their secrets too.

Pausing for a second Urd stared at the section of the wall where Lind was standing on the other side and added, "We will need to have Lind join us as well."

"And why is that?" her father asked bemusedly.

"Because, father in this room you are the Almighty One. Outside, you are just another aging god whose power is on the wane. I'd rather you pass judgment on me now than have you leave the safety of this room without a proper guard."

"Really, Urd I am quite capable of taking care of myself."

"I'm afraid I must agree with your daughter," came the unexpected voice of Lind. "If you leave the chamber then I insist that I accompany you."

"I don't recall asking you to rejoin us Lind." The AMO responded, his voice that of tempered steel, "Why have you entered here unbidden?"

"Because keeping you safe is my duty," Lind answered flatly, "even when you don't see the need. You can dismiss me if you desire but I still will not leave you unprotected!"

The startled old god looked questioningly at his daughter. Urd just shrugged and said, "It's a Valkyrie thing. You wouldn't understand."

"Well then a test," the old god said, "Lind, do you consider my daughter a friend?"

"Yes sir, I do."

"And were my daughter to raise her hand to me?"

"I would destroy her without hesitation!"

"And Urd what do you think of what your friend just said."

"I would expect nothing less coming from a friend." she replied her eyes twinkling.

"I think the two of you are conspiring to give me a headache," he sighed.

"The test is easy to understand when you think about it." Urd explained, "A friend, a true friend, will always let you know where you stand."

"I think I see," the AMO said, although it was obvious that he didn't, "okay then Lind gets to come along."

Turning his attention towards Urd he asked, "By the way, where are we going anyway?"

Pointing to the greenery that was just beyond the marble columns surrounding the central obelisk Urd said, "Just out into the garden and about 16 years into the past."

"Very well then, Lind since you seem to be so obsessed with my safety I'll let you lead the way."

With that Lind linked her mind to both the Almighty One and Urd and the room became fuzzy to be replaced by the garden that was just outside. But this wasn't the garden of the now. Instead it was the garden as it was 16 years ago.

As the trio looked around Urd spoke a warning.

"We must be very careful," she warned, "this is the living past, anything we do here can have an impact on the now."

"What are we looking for by the way?" her father asked.

"A nexus is about to form here, an important one, one that should have never happened."

"Keep going." Her father told her.

"There are, as you know certain events, decision points that determine our future. Every so often we reach a nexus, a joining of our past and future where we must make a choice of which path to take. As children we are blissfully unawares of this fact and make our choices, sometimes bad ones, at random. Normally the bad choices we might make when we are young are offset by the more enlightened choices we make later on in life. So the mistakes we make as children really don't amount to much when looked at in the grand scheme of things. However, it can also be said that the straighter the path we follow the sooner we reach our goal. Celestin was well aware of this fact and made dam sure that Belldandy never strayed from the path he laid before her. As a result Belldandy never got to enjoy growing up like the rest of us.

"Now there are two types of nexuses, those that naturally occur and those that we force into being. This is one of the latter. We are at the point when Belldandy finally got tired of having Celestin making all her decisions for her and decided to take matters into her own hands."

"I don't feel anything," her father said, touching the threads of time as they flowed around the trio, "Are you sure such an important Nexus will form here?"

"I am the Goddess of the past," Urd told him proudly, "the most significant divergence in the history of Heaven began at this point in the here and now."

"What happened?" Lind asked.

"Did you ever play hide and seek when you were young Lind?"

"Sadly no," Lind answered her, "I never had anybody to play with."

"How about you father?"

"Yes I did," the AMO acknowledged, "a long long time ago."

"So, Father, would you care to explain to Lind how the game is played?"

"Well," he began, "the basics are relatively simple. You find a place to hide and your opponent has to find you. What makes the game different from how they play it down on earth is that if a god or goddess doesn't want to be seen then they can't be seen. To find your quarry you have to look for signs of their passing. A scent on the breeze, a bloom that shouldn't be blooming, the flight of the birds. Things like that."

"Exactly," Urd agreed, "Belldandy and I use to play hide and seek in this garden when we were younger. Me being the elder my powers were greater than hers and as a result she wound up hiding and I wound up being the seeker most of the time."

"You see this tree," Urd asked as she pointed to an old oak of no particular interest, "I call it Belldandy's tree."

The old god looked quizzically at the old oak before his eyes lit up in recognition. "I know this tree," he exclaimed, "this is where I first met your mother!"

"I'm not surprised," Urd said in response to this new revelation, "if this tree is where you met my mother then it would contain an imprint of the joy of the event. In effect it would be a naturally occurring happy place and Belldandy would have been drawn to it. To her it would have been a place of safety."

"That's a dangerous way of thinking," Lind remarked.

"Exactly, the imprint creates a false sense of security," Urd agreed, "but Belldandy was just a little girl and this was her safe place, or at least it was."

"What do you mean was?" The AMO asked.

"See for yourself," Urd told him, "Come Father; come listen to the memories of the tree with me."

"What is it that I'm listening for?" he asked as he and his daughter pressed their ears to its bark.

"Do you feel the tree Father, do you feel how happy its memories are?"

"Yes, my daughter I do."

"It wasn't always so," Urd said, "Listen harder, listen to the memories of the past. Can you feel the sadness of the past?"

"Yes I can."

"That's Belldandy's sadness you're feeling. The sadness of a little girl who thinks she has failed to measure up."

As the trio watched the past unfold all around them an eight-year-old Belldandy wearing an unkempt brown dress came to the tree and climbed to the top disappearing from view as she did so. Seeing with eyes not dimmed by the past they could see as the young goddess climbed to the highest limb and started crying to herself. Her father, moved by the image of the past, started to reach for her before being stopped by the handle of Lind's battle-ax.

"Remember Urd's warning," she said.

Time jumped forward slightly and a young Urd, smiling to herself as she enjoyed the game came walking down the path searching for her younger sister. Spying the tree she sighted Belldandy as she cried to herself. The smile left Urd's face as she turned away and continued down the path, pretending that she never knew where her sister hid.

"The reason I call this Belldandy's tree is because she would always come here when she thought that she had failed Celestin somehow." Urd explained, "On this day I discovered that when Belldandy hid here she didn't want me to find her and from that time forward I made sure that I never did!

"Celestin was another matter however." Urd said grimly.

Time jumped forward again, this time it wasn't Urd but Celestin that was seeking Belldandy. As the three looked on they could see Celestin as he called her down. From their vantagepoint they could see how Belldandy forced herself to smile as she floated down to the ground. The image so heartbreaking to the old god that tears were starting to run down his face.

"How could I have been so blind?" the AMO asked himself.

Instinctively the old god began to reach for his daughter, the image beginning to waver as the Universe of the past tried to re-orient itself to accommodate this interloper from the future.

Suddenly Lind broke in. "Quickly now! We must be away!" With that urgent warning Urd brought them back to the here and now.

"What just happened!" demanded the old god. "Why did you make it stop!"

"The tree," Lind began, "the tree sensed your presence. We might have affected the future just now!"

"It doesn't really matter," Urd said sadly, "Belldandy's constant negative imprints were having an impact on the tree and after Celestin found Belldandy he had her sing it back to health. Celestin stole Belldandy's happy place from her that day and since she didn't feel safe there anymore she never went back. But that wasn't the last time we played hide and seek."

Suddenly Urd's expression turned hard. "Tell me father, what kind of fool threatens an eight year old child with elimination!"

Startled by Urd's sudden change in attitude Lind instinctively stepped forward brandishing her ax as she did so.

"What do you mean!" Her father almost roared before he remembered what he had done. "Celestin," he started over, "Celestin was worried that Belldandy's powers were developing too quickly, he said I needed to be extra firm with her."

"Be extra firm?" Urd scoffed, ignoring Lind, "With an eight year old child whose only wish is to make other people happy!"

"Well," he said sheepishly, "I guess my words could have been calibrated differently."

"You think!" Urd said scornfully.

Seeming to finally notice Lind's defensive posture Urd started over, "The last time…" she said wistfully. "The last time we played hide and seek nobody could find her for seven days."

"Yes, I remember that," spoke up Lind relaxing. "Everybody was in a panic because they thought the demons had kidnapped her!"

"The real reason that we couldn't find her," Urd explained to Lind, "was because she had fled to the surface world where she made the acquaintance of a young mortal her own age the name of…"

"Keiichi Morisato," her father finished for her.

"You mean that their paths have crossed before?" Lind asked awestruck, "Their fates became intertwined from that first meeting?"

"Precisely and therein lies the basis for my defense. The incident by itself was really nothing, just a little girl who ran off to play with a new friend. But Belldandy had also forced a nexus into being that day, a divergence from Celestin's intended path for her, one so profound that it would literally redefine the future of Heaven someday. Celestin probably sensed this somehow and was forced to advance his timetable before he had fully indoctrinated Belldandy. Then came 10948 and you know the aftermath of what happened there.

"I'm not privy to that information," Lind said, "Can you fill me in, assuming it's okay with your father?"

Both goddesses looked to the old god questioningly who nodded his head in affirmation.

"Belldandy sealed herself," Urd explained, "By the time the healers were able to crack her password so they could get to her she was comatose. The council held an emergency meeting where they decided to seal the memory of the event from her and then passed off the responsibility to me to do their dirty work for them in order to bring her back.

"The bureaucrats in that chamber thought that all I needed to do was mix some obscure ingredients together, say a few magic words and the problem would all be fixed. But life isn't that simple. I couldn't just give her the potion, first I had to go inside her mind and bring her back. She had retreated deep inside too, all the way back to that one week of summer, where she was playing an endless game of hide and seek with the little boy who only wanted her for a friend.

"Being inside someone's psyche is a dangerous place to be, you can wind up trapped inside forever if they respond to some kind of stimulus while you're there, but to me it didn't matter, I knew I needed to lead her back to reality. When I found Belldandy, however, she didn't want to come out, she was happy where she was at and it's not like I could force my will onto hers while inside her own mind. So I had to lure her out like some sick child predator would and then when she was distracted I hid that happy place from her by forcing her to drink the potion.

Looking at the ground as the bittersweet memory played out in her mind Urd continued. "I have always been considered an outsider, somehow different, unworthy. But until then I had never really felt dirty, like maybe there was some truth to what they said. It was awful Father," Urd started to cry for only the third time in her life, "having to steal from my eight-year-old sister the only happy memory she had. So I made Belldandy a promise, my first contract really, that I would help her find her happy place again and ever since then I have been working towards that goal."

"I see," her father said, stroking his beard as he began to see a possible path to save his eldest daughter. "So the main argument you are making on your behalf is that all this time you have been manipulating events to keep your promise to your sister."

"It goes deeper than that, but yes I have." Urd agreed, "That boy, he had such a pure heart; I wanted Belldandy to be able to experience that purity again. But the mortal world tends to corrupt so I kept tabs on him from time to time. Luck was with me. Him being so short in stature nobody of the fairer sex wanted to get close to him but I knew my luck couldn't last forever. So I hit on a plan to help keep him pure, as soon as I was in a position to do so, I parked an unlucky star over his head."

"Devious," said Lind, "using someone else's bad luck to keep your lucky streak going."

"Like it?" Urd smiled wiping the tears from her face as she did so, "I thought it was pretty clever myself. Then I parked the companion lucky star over Belldandy and made sure she stayed off of the OPS floor doing busy work until the time was right. After that it was really just a matter of waiting for Keiichi to make his phone call and then routing it to Belldandy's workstation."

"How did you know when the call would come?" her father asked.

"Because opposites attract. Lucky stars and their companion Unlucky stars orbit about each other as they travel through space. I knew that Keiichi's call couldn't come until his unlucky star was eclipsed by Belldandy's star. Since I was the one who parked them there the ephemeris was easy to calculate."

"And afterward?"

"I didn't know what kind of wish he was going to make. I just wanted them to meet again, to restore the happy memory that I had stolen from her. Then that idiot goes and wishes for a goddess like her to stay with him forever! When I first heard it I thought it was no big deal, just a minor inconvenience, and we would just rotate a new goddess in and out every so often to satisfy the contract."

"Ah, but Belldandy didn't see it that way did she?" Lind piped in.

"No, this was her first contract and she intended to see it through herself and of course you stuck your foot in it again Father!"

"Huh," the AMO asked quizzically, "how can you say that any of this is my fault?"

"Remember when she called in a panic right after the contract was made?" Urd needled him, "What did you tell her?"

"I told her that the contract was valid and she needed to make the best of it," he sighed.

"And she did didn't she?" Urd rubbed it in, "As a matter of fact she made so much of the best of it that she is happier now on Earth than she ever was in Heaven. That's why I had to disable the system force."

"Huh," asked Lind, "How is one related to the other?"

"Do you know how the system force works," Urd asked her, "how it actually is able to do what it does?"

"I believe that falls under the topics of 'special significance,'" her father warned.

"Oh, don't be such a stick in the mud," Urd replied, "Anybody can figure it out if they just look closely enough."

"Sire," began Lind, "it would be a significant strategic advantage if I knew the answer."

"Very well," he conceded, "but this knowledge never leaves this room."

"The system force is basically just another expression of the Almighty One's will." Urd explained, "The conduit between Heaven and the surface world always has been the gods and goddesses who travel there. When a goddess enters into a contract the parameters are entered into the system then crosschecked between the heart and the head. The system force is that same force we use every day to work the Almighty's Will with one important difference. The crosscheck is removed! The system force manifests itself strictly by way of the heart of the granter. The deity it is traveling through has no control over the power or how it will react, with one important exception.

"We all know that the harder something pushes against the force the harder it pushes back. But there is another aspect to this. Since the system force flows only through the heart the more the god or goddess wants the system to prevail the more powerful the reaction is and this can be exacerbated even more by how powerful that god or goddess is.

"Belldandy loves that boy, more than life itself. The longer she stayed with him the more she wanted to stay. I began to notice that the system force was reacting disproportionately to what were really just minor glitches in their relationship. When I looked into it I discovered that the deeper they fell in love the more violent these reactions were becoming. If I had left the system force engaged she would have wound up accidentally killing somebody! I crashed the system to disengage it in order to keep a disaster from happening."

"It also had the added advantage of keeping Belldandy's presence on earth off my radar." Her father interjected.

"Now father, I know, you know, that she has always been down there."

"True, what I meant by keeping her off my radar was that I wasn't aware of just how powerful she has become. I just now glanced at her power readings and noticed that they have increased exponentially since she arrived. I'm surprised Hild hasn't moved against her more forcefully by now. We might have another problem brewing."

"Mother is cleverer than that, why destroy her and risk starting a war when she could subvert Belldandy's power to her own ends. It would be much more satisfying from her perspective to allow you and Heaven to think you have accumulated all that energy then just steal it right out from under your nose."

"You know daughter, when you start thinking like your mother it gives me the chills." her father shuddered.

"What I find scary," Urd said, "is that Keiichi saw this last attack coming before I did."

"Is there anything else that you think might aid in your defense," the AMO asked.

"No Father, what I did I did for the sake of my sister whom Heaven betrayed!"

"Well, you've done at least a reasonable job of explaining you're actions and I'm proud that you have placed your sister's needs ahead of your own. Still, I can't say for sure if I'll sign off on it once I resume my post but as your father I'm satisfied that your intentions were good. But sadly, we all know what road is paved with those. However, you've yet to explain away the biggie. Why did you create an alternate reality for Heaven?"

"I was hoping you might have forgotten about that," said Urd sheepishly.

"Hey, this is me remember, your father, AKA the Almighty One."

"Well remember that awful bug leakage we had on the surface world nine months after Belldandy arrived?"

"You mean the one where you used the Ultimate Magic Circle of Warding without my permission, got your license suspended and forced me to give Skuld her earth trainee modification? Not to mention having to listen to Destiny bitch and moan for an hour about you undercutting her authority! Now why would I remember something like that?"

"Uh, yeah, well that's the one. Well all those problems were caused by opposing magical fields. The seal on Keiichi's memories was drawing power from the energy sealed in that tree and that was reacting with Belldandy's natural power. You just can't erase memories; the energies of the past still remain. The only way I could give the two of them a fresh start was to slightly re-write their history. So I went back to that critical event where Keiichi asked Belldandy for her promise and made sure that it never got entered into the system. Unfortunately, I had to create another time line up here to prevent the paradox. Looking back, if I hadn't done that then she might not have been able to pass the gate."

"I still don't understand why you thought you needed to alter Heaven's time line?" Lind asked.

"It involves planer physics," Urd answered her, "We are, all of us, really nothing more than a manifestation of an amalgamation of all of our possible selves. Of all the different people we are in all of the alternate realities where we exist. A thousand different people gathered in the same space for a brief instant before splitting off to go our different ways, only to remerge an instant later then repeating the process ad infinitum. With regard to those two there are two major divergence's in their past that contradict the other. In one Belldandy was forced to seal Keiichi's memories, and in the other she didn't. In all cases involving matters such as these the will of Heaven prevails. So while Belldandy sealed Keiichi's memories in only one iteration of his past the amalgamized Keiichi, the Keiichi we see, has had his memories sealed in all of his current iterations. The same goes for Belldandy and that dam cheery tree except I reversed the process and because the events occurred in two separate realities, realities of my making, they are now mis-phased. Keiichi's seal can't draw power from the magical field sealed inside the tree because even though Belldandy's seal is on his mind Belldandy never put it there. The event simply doesn't exist in their world. More importantly, Belldandy, the Belldandy that passed through the Judgment gate unharmed, was able to do so because she was never once deceitful or doubtful with her lover."

"Can you even do that with a goddess?" asked Lind in amazement.

"Not really, Belldandy is ruled by the will of Heaven as are we all, so AU adjustments don't really affect her but she has an advantage in that she has more than one reality to choose from. Belldandy being Belldandy simply chooses to be who she is now."

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Lind exclaimed out loud, "Stop it already, you're making my head hurt!"

"Mine too!" the AMO said, "While you might consider this a good thing for your sister, you have admitted that you knowingly altered the course of Heaven's history," her father growled. "That kind of meddling cannot be tolerated even by a first class goddess! That is, and always will be, the sole domain of the Almighty One. I really don't know how I'm going to take this when I try to explain it to myself!

"However," the old god said craftily, "I might be able to grant you some leniency if you offer to make amends."

"What do you mean by amends?" said Urd suddenly on the defensive.

"There is no question that your contract to your sister has been fulfilled. You have more than replaced that week of happiness you stole from her with close to four years of happy memories. It's time for you to close this project down. Belldandy and Keiichi need to go their separate ways. Destiny has her own plans for the two of them. If you do that, then I might be able to get you off with just administrative punishment."

"I'm sorry father but I can't."

"And why not!" the old god boomed.

"Because Belldandy still needs Keiichi," Urd said flatly, "She is horribly scarred on the inside and she has just begun to heal. She needs him in ways I can't even fathom. If I take him from her now, all of what's gone before will have been for naught. In all honesty, Heaven needs for him to stay with her too."

"How so?"

"She needs him to serve as her missing compass."

"Missing compass? You need to elaborate on that one for me."

"Well let's see if I can explain it, for me as the goddess of the past, whenever I need to make a decision I have the advantage of already knowing what has been tried and failed. So I've been blessed with a pretty reliable compass to guide my actions. Skuld, the poor dear, has it a lot harder than me since she only has an anticipated cause and effect on a nebulous future to guide her actions. Nonetheless, she knows where she's at and knows where she wants to wind up so she too has a fairly good compass. But Belldandy will always have the most difficulty in finding her way of us all. As the goddess of the present she has no built in compass to guide her. To her the past is a fading memory and the future something yet to happen. Keiichi serves as her compass. He allows her to live in the present while keeping her pointing in the right direction."

"So, I guess this means that you intend to stand by your actions without offering to make amends and with no remorse?"

"I'm sorry that I had to do what I did, if that is what you're asking. But I still think what I did was right and for that I will make no apology."

"Very well," the old god said, "let me talk this over with myself. To be honest though, the outlook is pretty bleak my girl."

He smiled at her as he stroked her hair. She placed her hands together and once again they were bound. His presence faded from the room to once again meld with the heart of all things to form the spirit and will of the Almighty One.

"If it's any consolation I think you've made a very good accounting of yourself." Lind said as she resumed her post as Heaven's bailiff, her expression grim.

"If for some reason I don't get to tell you later, you really are a very good friend Lind." Urd confided.

"I appreciate you telling me that Urd, I really do." Lind whispered.

All too soon the internal deliberations were done and judgment was pronounced. "Goddess second class, first category, Urd, Norn of the past." the Almighty's voice boomed, "You have been found guilty of placing your will ahead of that of Heaven. Further you have shown neither remorse nor inclination to make any amends for your actions. Therefore, your sentence is to be as follows: You are hereby permanently stripped of your 2nd class license and all powers and privileges attached to said license are hereby revoked, you will be required to make penance for your actions; you are banished from the realm of Heaven…


	5. Chapter 5

**Ah! 10948 edited. ch5.**

Back in the basement of her apartment Mara was admiring the bruise that Keiichi had given her with awe.

"If Keiichi ever decides to go professional I need to look into becoming his agent," said Mara as she rubbed her stomach. "Maybe I can make enough money to move out of this crappy apartment."

"I wouldn't get my hopes up too much about that Mara," said Hild's avatar coldly, "I'm afraid that Mr. Morisato isn't going to be with us much longer."

Hild's last statement caused the hairs on Mara's neck to stand on end. "What do you mean by that Lady Hild?"

"I'm afraid that Mr. Morisato is going to meet with a tragic accident in the near future."

"What kind of accident?"

"I'll leave that part up to you Mara; just make sure he's dead when you're done!"

Mara wasn't sure if it was cowardice or caution that drove her to push her boss for more answers, but one thing she did know for certain was that for any demon to try to kill Keiichi was tantamount to committing suicide.

"Lady Hild, if you don't mind my saying this but aren't we crossing the line into some very dangerous territory here."

"Are you questioning my orders Mara?"

"No it's not that, but to do something that drastic there must be a good reason, can't you at least explain why it is we need to kill him?"

"You should know Mara. He blocked your attack and folded you up like a paper doll after all."

"Now that you mention it he did. How did he do that by the way?"

"While Belldandy was bleeding her power was escaping into the mortal plane, some of that energy got into Keiichi somehow. That's how he was able to foil your attack, and then the arrogant bastard has the audacity to come after me! That alone should be reason enough to kill him!"

"Really Lady Hild aren't you being just a little vindictive, after all we came after him first."

"If that were the only reason Mara you might be right, but he absorbed the power of a goddess. That shouldn't even be possible. If word were to get out down here on the mortal plane that it is possible to acquire the powers of a god or a demon by bathing in their blood, then how long do you think it will take before the humans start hunting us down like animals? The 10948 file is no longer an issue, Keiichi needs to die and his new found knowledge with him!"

"If you're that worried, why don't we touch base with the other side? Their people will be in just as much jeopardy as ours, how about we get them to take care of Keiichi for us."

"That won't work Mara."

"If you don't mind my asking why not?"

"Because there are about 10 demons for every god or goddess on the mortal plane, even with that numerical advantage we barely are able to maintain parity. If the mortals start indiscriminately killing us we will suffer far greater loss in overall numbers than the divine ones. Moreover, the other side is really good about keeping a low profile; odds are they will be able to keep out of harm's way much easier than our group."

"Then what about the doublet? Shouldn't Heaven be worried about their people dying off as a result of the mortals killing demons?"

"The shrewd bastard who negotiated the treaty, AKA Urd's father, made it so that Doublet only attaches if death is the direct result of the actions of the other side. No, this is our problem and we must deal with it. The bottom line is Mara; Keiichi is in possession of some very dangerous knowledge that I can't afford to ever have become known. I want Keiichi Morisato dead and I want it done now!"

"I see," said Mara as she looked at the seemingly innocent form of the 12-year-old version of the ruler of hell, who had just coldly ordered the death of another human being and did something totally unprecedented in her entire tenure. She said the word, "No."

"What did you just say to me!" Hild screamed at her, almost as if she was throwing a temper tantrum.

"I said no," Mara said weekly, "I won't kill him."

Hild levitated herself until her eyes were inches from Mara's, Mara attempted to return her gaze but she could feel Hild's will forcing her eyes away.

As Hild and Mara engaged in their mutual stare down, slowly Hild began to change morphing from the form of a petulant spoiled 12 year old into the ageless beauty that was the Daimakaicho.

With force of will alone she slammed Mara against the wall and slowly began to squeeze the life from her. Hild's presence filled the entire room and pushed its way into Mara's consciousness. She was everywhere Mara turned. Even when she tried to escape into the safety of her mind Hild was there waiting for her grinning maliciously.

"Mara," Hild said emotionlessly, "you know that you have forfeited your life by daring to defy me." Mara's answer to her question was to soil herself. No demon in all of hell could stand against such malevolence and Hild knew it.

"Kill Keiichi Mara! Kill him now and I might let you live!" she hissed.

Struggling to remain conscious, Mara's eyes were wide with fear but still she refused to comply.

"Then you die Mara!"

Suddenly Mara found herself pinned to a table, her head and neck hanging off in to space with Hild standing next to her a headsman's ax in her hands. Hild had placed Mara facing in such a fashion that insured that the last images she ever witnessed in this lifetime would be Hild and the ax as it arced through the air and removed her head.

Mara watched in horrified fascination as the instrument of death swung through the air, too fast and heavy for its path to change. She couldn't even close her eyes as she awaited her fate. Suddenly the blade was motionless; its progress halted so close to her throat that several hairs on her neck were split by the unearthly keen blade.

"Draw one last breath Mara," Hild hissed, "and tell me why you still defy me!"

"It will start a war, a war with Heaven!" Mara managed to croak out.

"Keiichi is not a god; he is not protected by Heaven!"

"No, he's not," said Mara as she stared at the blade still poised above her throat. "He is protected by Belldandy. It would be safer for us if he were a god."

"You are not making sense Mara and you are trying my patience." Hild menaced.

"Were any demon to ever harm Keiichi they would have Belldandy's wrath come down on them worse than the Almighty's own vengeance. I know I've tried." Mara said. "Any demon crazy enough to try to kill him will be dead themselves before Keiichi's body hit the ground!"

"Doublet will keep Belldandy in line Mara."

"Doublet won't mean a crap to Belldandy if Keiichi is dead! The bitch will go insane and she'll go on a vendetta against all of hell. I wasn't so out of it that I wasn't aware that Urd's power shattered her seals the other day, and she just lives in the afterglow! Belldandy is the direct recipient, as strong as she is right now her seals might as well be costume jewelry!"

"You might have a point," Hild conceded as she lifted her ax from over Mara's neck. "Very well then, I'll kill Keiichi myself."

"It won't change anything," Mara said as she got off the table.

"What!" said Hild dangerously, "Do you doubt my strength against a mere Goddess."

"No, I'm sure you will win against Belldandy and Urd and probably Lind too. But that would be just the beginning. You will be ankle deep in divine blood before that boy's corpse is cold. How long after that will it take for Heaven to commit to a full scale assault!"

Being the ruler of hell, Hild wasn't used to having her orders questioned by her minions, which is why decapitation was the first thing to come to mind when Mara had defied her, but as her first rush of anger faded she began to ponder the veracity of Mara's fears. Belldandy was a wildcard she had to admit, impossible to figure out and at the same time certain to do that which Hild would least expect. Considering Belldandy's current power level if Mara was right and Belldandy did go off the deep end then she could very well wind up losing her entire marketing force in the region.

"Well Mara," Hild said as she pondered what her cowering minion had told her, "I'm afraid that what you say might be true. In which case the only way to get Keiichi to keep his mouth shut is to get Belldandy to close it for us."

"I think we might have used up all of our goodwill with Belldandy, I'm afraid," Mara said.

"You're right, of course," Hild answered her coldly, "well then I guess I really have no choice but to give him a call."

As shocked as Hild was by Mara's defiance, Mara was even more so by Hild's sudden capitulation. As any dweller of the Infernal Realm could tell you, given the choice between war and talking to that person, war was the obvious outcome. Mara continued to watch on in disbelief as Hild went to the phone and without dialing picked it up and was connected to the person she least wanted to talk to.

"Hello there it's me." Hild began cheerfully, "No, it's not about the support check. Yes, the alimony arrangement is just fine. Visitation! She's a grown woman, I'll visit anytime I like... As a matter a fact I saw her just yesterday thank you! When was the last time you saw her? Oh, she is huh, well that's a shame. What do I want? I want you to stop asking stupid questions! Look we need to talk right away. No, I won't come up there! How about you come and visit me? No, you can't bring her too! In the middle you say. Where at? Not a chance in hell... Okay, how about at Urd's place. No, it can't wait! Very well then, good bye!

"Oh, that man!" Hild screamed in frustration as she blasted the phone off the wall, "what did I ever see in him!"

Mara could only guess and knew better than to ask.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Back at the temple:<span>**

Silence had fallen over the temple, Keiichi still couldn't talk, and Belldandy and Skuld had withdrawn into themselves, as each feared the worst for their eldest sister. The three Norns knew that, by virtue of their father currently holding the position of the Almighty One, they enjoyed a certain amount of leeway not granted other members of Heaven. But they also knew that power like theirs needed tight controls and the punishments for abusing such power could be very severe. Urd was always one to push the envelope. If found guilty of whatever it was she had been accused of, they were certain that the full weight of Heavens sacred law would be brought to bear.

These thoughts were on Keiichi's mind as well as he hugged Belldandy as she busied herself in the kitchen. Still unable to talk this had become the only way he could communicate.

"What are you doing!" came the angry voice of Skuld piercing the silence.

Instead of taking both his arms from around Belldandy he extended one towards her, inviting Skuld to join in their silent conversation. She started to turn away but suddenly wrapped her arms around the two of them. "I'm so afraid!" she confessed to them, "What if they take her license away! They could expel her from Heaven to anywhere and we might never find her. She's not strong like the rest of us. Without her power she would be helpless!"

"Skuld," Belldandy began, "Urd is a grown Goddess, every choice she made was of her own free will. She knew full well what the consequences of her actions might be. You need to have faith now that whatever it is that she did, she did for a good reason and trust in Heaven to make the right decision."

"Yes, but you heard Lind. She said that the council ordered her down here. That means that they have lost confidence in Father's ability as the Almighty One. This could be some kind of political power play with Urd caught in the middle. Justice might not have anything to do with it. They might be looking to make an example out of her."

"I think our sister would make a fine example don't you?"

"That's not what I mean!"

Keiichi disengaged himself from the two younger Norns and let them continue their conversation in private. Heading towards the front porch he passed by the phone just as it started to ring. Without thinking he picked it up to answer before he remembered that he couldn't speak.

"Keiichi, this is Urd," came the voice on the other end of the line, "tell Belldandy that we have guests coming for dinner and she needs to set some extra places. No scratch that. Just tell her big party. The fridge is full. Get cooking. Bye for now." She finished not waiting for him to answer as the phone went click in his ear.

"Was that Urd just now?" came the voice of Belldandy from down the hall. Keiichi was still looking for something to right his message on when Belldandy impatiently linked her mind to his and read Urd's message for herself.

"Belldandy!" Skuld's startled cry came from the kitchen, "come here right away!"

When they both got there they could see that every flat space in the room was filled to overflowing with all different kinds of exotic foods.

"All of this just suddenly appeared with no warning."

"Well Urd just called and said something about a party tonight."

"Yes, but this isn't Urd's magic, it doesn't smell right."

"You're right," Belldandy acknowledged, "it doesn't smell right at all, as a matter of fact it smells like brimstone!"

"There is only one person who can pierce our barrier with that much ease."

"Hild!" the two said in unison.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ah! 10948 edited. ch6.**

Hanging up the phone the Almighty One smiled to himself. If the data he was privy to was any indication then Hild had finally overplayed her hand and was vulnerable. An opportunity he had no intention of letting go to waste. After who knows how many centuries of move and counter move the game of slow motion chess the pair had been playing was entering its final stages. From past experience he knew that his opponent would not go down without a fight and he knew it was time for him to get ruthless, again.

"Lind," came the voice of the Almighty One. "Get your things. We are going to parley with Hild."

"You are going to do what!" Lind asked in disbelief.

"Time to meet with the other side. I need you to provide security."

"Not so fast!" Lind screamed authoritatively, "Who is going to run things while you are away?"

"It's just a short trip; the universe can manage without me for a while."

"There is a difference between a stroll in the garden and a trip to the surface world." Lind countered, "If anything happens to you Heaven will be without a leader. You are meeting with the leadership of the other side and she is a master of the double deal. Don't you believe for a second that you will be safe down on the surface! Before I will allow you down there you need to have a successor named and installed."

"What is it with everyone lately, first my daughter and now you! You know there was a time when I could just give you an order and you would jump to obey." the old god sighed, "Now I'm getting lectured by my own bodyguard."

"Put it down to spending too much time on the surface world. I've met your ex and I know she can play dirty if it suits her needs, besides common sense dictates that we be as prepared as possible before we expose ourselves to such vulnerability!"

"Oh, all right I'll concede your point and install a temporary replacement until I return."

"Good," said Lind relieved by the AMO's acquiescence, "who shall it be?"

"I don't know, let me see." The old god said as he appeared to ponder the problem, "Tell me, where is Destiny right now?"

"Destiny!" Lind said in shock, "Destiny carries a lot of weight around here but she still is just a goddess! There isn't a single goddess in all of Heaven powerful enough to fulfill the requirements of the Almighty One! The only goddess who might ever become that powerful is…"

"SILENCE!" The Almighty one roared, "That's another problem with you spending too much time on the surface! You start finding the answers to questions that you shouldn't have thought to ask in the first place!"

"Oh my," said Lind, "Oh my, I never thought, I mean I never considered that she could become…"

"That's just one possibility," the AMO confessed, "and that is still many iterations in the future for her. The reason I wanted to know where Destiny was is because whoever is keeping her company tonight just became my successor."

"Pardon me but doesn't that seem a little arbitrary!"

"Destiny's taste in men is extremely… selective… whoever her bed partner for this evening is I can just about guarantee that he will be… suitable. Besides, the other side is willing to talk which hasn't happened in years. I can't be wasting time going through a lengthy vetting process while this opportunity slips away. This is as good a method as any."

"I see your point." Lind conceded.

"And as for that other matter, friend or no I expect you to keep that to yourself!" He warned.

"Does she even know what you intend!" Lind asked.

"Of course not, she still has many futures ahead of her and I won't interfere with any of them."

"I understand, but still wasn't this what you had in mind for her from the beginning?"

"Too soon, much too soon. She is a fate, fated to save us from our own all too well deserved fates."

"You know, I actually understood what you just said." Lind told him, "but why hesitate? If this is her, ah, fate then why not let her answer its call?"

"You see this?" The Almighty One asked as a prehistoric lizard like creature appeared in the room.

"My god what is that!" Lind gasped.

"That's a picture of me in my first iteration back when Pangea was still whole. We thought back then that if we could consolidate our power into different camps then we could master them individually and more quickly. Instead the imbalance created by the different schools of thought as we sought to exercise control over forces we did not fully understand split the ancient world into three parts. But the split wasn't complete, ever since that time we have been at the mercy of the mortal world as it drags the other two realms along with it. That's why both Heaven and Hell compete for market share of the surface world. If we control what transpires down there we are exercising some control over our own fate as well. But to me it seems that the real solution is to make the three parts whole again. Urd was to be our first attempt at a possible solution to a desired future. But the balance of the two smaller realms must be established before we begin to reconcile with the mortal realm, otherwise we might lose what little control we have. Without realizing it she has laid my plans at nines by putting those two together prematurely."

"Freedom of choice, it's a bitch sometimes." Lind sighed, "Still can't this be considered a possible first step towards your intended goal?"

"Who knows," the old god shrugged, "I know I don't and I'm just the master of all reality! Well let's go talk to Hild. I'm curious as what has got her in such a state that she wants to parley."

"Tell me," Lind asked out of curiosity, "can anybody see what iterations they have led in the past?"

"No, that is a perk, if you want to call it that reserved for the Almighty One. "When I'm forced to sit in judgment of another soul I use it to see backwards in time to see if there is anything I might have missed. To see what, if anything, is still left to be done by a particular soul before the passing of Final Judgment. Each iteration you live is its own separate lifetime with its own set of challenges, choices and outcomes. It's the mistakes you make in each lifetime that determines and limits the possibilities you will have in future iterations. First timers like Urd and Belldandy have virtually unlimited possibilities lying before them. In Skuld's case this isn't the first time she has been through the mill. Sadly in none of her previous iterations was she ever able to acquire the power to sustain her own angel. She'll never know it but she owes Keiichi and Belldandy big time. Her future futures are much brighter now than they were before."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Back at the Temple.<span>**

For those of us not privy to the divine cause and effect of the events that swirl around us, the party seemed to be a spontaneous affair. It all started simply enough. Sora, needing an excuse to check on Belldandy, had mentioned wanting to show her new dessert off to her to some of the members of the motor club, which is how Tamiya and Otaki found out. The pair then mentioned something to one of the firemen while installing a new ignition switch on the water tanker truck they had "borrowed," which is how the fire crew found out. Sora had used the Home Ecc. facilities to remake her dessert, which is how the student body found out.

Slowly at first people started to show up in ones and twos, then more and still more again. Soon there was a throng of people teaming about the temple grounds. Thanks to Urd's warning Belldandy and Skuld were just able to keep up with the rush.

Just as the party was getting into full swing, outside the temple grounds a snappily dressed elderly gentleman with a Valkyrie for a bodyguard met up with the ruler of the Netherworld who was dressed in a formal gown so revealing that it would even have given Urd pause. The two linked arms and pausing only to disable Banpei the two leaders of Heaven and Hell met on neutral territory to discuss the fate of a single mortal who unknowingly held the future of all three realms in his hands.

Urd showed up fashionably late for her own party and went straight to the bathroom to get ready. Belldandy and Skuld had noticed Urd's arrival but when she didn't make her appearance in a timely fashion, Belldandy sent Skuld to fetch her sister.

"Urd," screamed Skuld in frustration, "since this is your party don't you think you should be lending a hand."

"I'll be right there," she replied, "I'm just finishing putting on my makeup."

As soon as the words left her mouth Urd knew she had said the wrong thing. The door flew open and Skuld burst into the room.

"Makeup! You don't wear makeup! What's going on here!"

Skuld looked closely at her sister's face spying a half completed blue triangle on her cheek.

"What happened to you Urd, you didn't change sides again did you!"

"No, it's nothing like that," she replied soothingly.

"What did father do, did he take your license away again!"

"Well, yes he did, in a manner of speaking."

"What do you mean in a manner of speaking! Are you still a second class goddess or not?"

"Not, I'm afraid, but it's not that bad."

"How can you say that, the last time you lost your powers you destroyed half the city! I don't want to see that happen again!"

Realizing that once Skuld got it into her head to find an answer she would relentlessly pursue every possible avenue until she found out what she thought she needed to know Urd relented and decided to let her in on her little secret. "Very well, take a look at this," Urd said taking a cotton ball and wiping away the half completed symbol on her left cheek."

"Wow!" Skuld acknowledged genuinely impressed, "What is that?"

"Like it?" Urd said proudly, "It's my new license."

"Yes, but what is it? I've never seen a symbol like it before."

"Father created a new category of goddess just for me," said Urd thinking back to when her father rendered her verdict…

...You are banished from the realm of Heaven until such time as all outstanding penalties are satisfied. Your banishment not withstanding you will be required to resume your responsibilities here in Heaven as part of your penance, as well as additional duties and responsibilities as are required. In furtherance of that requirement you will be granted a provisional first class license and will be required to assume all duties and responsibilities such post requires, you will not be entitled to any additional powers or privileges until such time as the provisional requirements are satisfied. Time spent in the heavenly realm will not count as time served. You will be expected to pass your first class exam in a timely fashion and meet all other requirements as are required of such post. You will be required to bring all current outstanding contracts to a satisfactory conclusion, you will not be entitled to any additional support from Heaven regarding said contracts, you will...

"Essentially," Urd said smiling towards Skuld, "I now have the authority of a first class goddess but my powers are restricted to that of a second and of course, my license is strictly provisional. If I don't ace the 1st class test my power will be suspended permanently."

"Ace the first class test! Even Belldandy missed a few when she took hers. That isn't fair!"

"That may be, but father has spoken and there isn't much I can say about it."

"Let me go talk to him, this just isn't right! Give you the responsibilities of the office but not the power!"

"I guess he thinks that with all the trouble I manage to get into with just my second class powers he didn't want to find out what would happen if I got my unlimited qualification. I really didn't have much choice; it was either that or go stay with Mother. Speaking of Mother, if you see her you need to thank her for bringing all the food."

"Why did she do all that by the way?"

"She and Father needed a neutral place to meet and thought the party would make a good cover."

"What! You mean Father and Hild are here? Now!"

"Relax, if they are still having their parley then they have the shield up and we can't sense them. They'll make their presence known when they're done."

"What are they parleying for?"

"I don't know, they didn't tell me. Hey since you're here how about helping me cover up this symbol."

"Why do you want to cover it up? It's still an upgrade; I'd think you would want to show it off."

"No, I don't want mother to find out about my change in status just now."

"I guess you're right, as devious as she is Hild would find some way to use it against you."

"You know, I'm beginning to think that I might be having a positive effect on you dear."

"I am trying to learn, that's true." Skuld answered her, "But I think you might have your signs reversed."

Sometime later the Almighty One and Hild finished their talks and dropped their shields. The event was marked by the two younger goddesses literally flying out of the house to hug the man who was their father, all the while totally oblivious to the presence of Hild who stood by his side. Urd joined the pair a short while later and gave her mother a hug.

"Tell me," Urd began, "what is so serious that the two of you needed to come down here to talk?"

"We'll get to that later," her mother replied, "right now why don't we enjoy this quiet time and you can tell me all about the trouble you're in."

"What trouble would you be talking about?"

"Urd," her mother began seriously, "you might enjoy a certain advantage in Heaven by being able to skirt the truth when you want too, but dear, don't try to Bull Sh*t a Bull Sh*ter."

"Really Mother, I'm fine you don't need to worry."

"Who's worried? I just don't want to see you waste your potential. With me to guide you, you could become a very potent demon."

"Really Mother, I tried that already and wound up destroying half the city."

"Actually it was closer to a quarter…"

Eventually, the group found their way back to the temple and joined the crowds. Urd's father and mother appearing to go their separate ways but never losing sight of the other. Keiichi, not used to not being the center of attention, had joined the group only to immediately have second thoughts when Belldandy had introduced him to her father, AKA the Almighty One. Before he could get away, however, the Norn's father had taken him by the arm and led him outside.

"So you are the infamous Keiichi Morisato," he said studying the puny mortal with a jaundiced eye. "Sit down Keiichi, we need to talk."

Keiichi pointed to his throat indicating that he still hadn't recovered his voice.

The Almighty One nodded his head in understanding. "That's all right," he said, "you didn't have anything important to say anyway.

"So, is it true that you tried to take a baseball bat to Hild's head?" The AMO asked with a gleam in his eyes.

Keiichi nodded yes sheepishly.

"Don't feel too bad," the AMO said as he relived a similar memory, "I tried to do the same thing on several occasions myself. But that isn't what I needed to talk to you about. Because of all the trouble that seems to swirl about you and my daughters I decided to take a look into your file and low and behold, I found something interesting."

A plain manila folder with his name written in magic marker appeared. Opening the folder Belldandy's father began rifling through the contents.

"Now let's see, where is it? Belldandy promises Keiichi, Belldandy promises Keiichi, here it is." He said removing a legal looking document with a flourish. "Keiichi promises Belldandy!"

In the puzzled expression on Keiichi's face it was easy to read his confusion.

"Right here," the old god said, "it says that you, Keiichi Morisato, do hereby promise the Goddess Belldandy, first class, second category, unlimited. That you will allow her to stay with you on earth, **even if in so doing it causes you pain!** That is your signature is it not?" He said pointing to a blank line that magically filled in with his name.

Keiichi could only nod his head in resignation.

"I don't mean to be a bully but you see my boy it's like this, when a god or goddess enters in to a contract with a mortal it is something that we never do lightly, the reason being is we have the system force to enforce it. However, when a mortal enters into a contract with Heaven there is no such enforcement. I would say that about 99.999 percent of all contracts made by mortals with Heaven wind up being broken. Even if we were to try to go after contract breakers our legal teams would be quickly overwhelmed. Not surprisingly very few lawyers make it over to our side. That said, since I just happen to be the Almighty One and since Belldandy just happens to be my daughter, you need to be aware that if you ever try to break your word to my daughter again. I WILL SQUASH YOU LIKE A BUG! I know it's not fair but fathers are like that, you know?"

Keiichi could only stare back at him with a why-is-this-happening-to-me look on his face.

"Now, thanks to your two brains getting tangled up you now know Belldandy's mind better than anyone else and consequently are in a better position to help her than anybody else." He continued looking him in the eye, "All those things that happened in the past have left horrible scars on her psyche and she is just now beginning to heal. Belldandy needs your love to help her heal. It's not enough for her to know that she is loved, you also must show her that she is loved. So why don't you two get busy, if you get my drift, and help heal her heart."

**The Next Day.**

On the front porch sat Urd and Lind enjoying a morning cup of tea as they listened to the sound of Keiichi's ancient TV droning in the background. At the base of the stairs sat Skuld as she frantically tried to repair her Texas Murder chain saw. As the same bulletin that had been repeating itself for the last several hours came on once again the two elder goddesses smiled to themselves as they heard:

"Now more on that worldwide trembling last night," the announcer's voice came from the TV. "Scientists are still trying to find the cause of a mild trembling that shook the entire globe last night around midnight Tokyo time. Since the event was felt around the world at exactly the same instant scientists have ruled out the possibility of a local seismic event. While the investigation is still just in its initial phase the leading theory that has emerged suggests the possibility that several million years ago massive celestial bodies aligned themselves on what is now the opposite side of the sun and created a gravity wave that caused the sun's pull on the earth to fluctuate mildly…"

No longer able to contain herself Urd asked Lind, "Who would have thought that she would knock the planet off of its axis?"

"Kind of gives a whole new meaning to the phrase, 'Earth shaking experience.' don't you think?" Lind cracked back sipping her tea.

"I think the two of you are disgusting!" screamed Skuld at the pair as she redoubled her efforts to repair the fused components in her toy.

"You know," Lind continued, pretending to ignore Skuld's outburst, "I was just topside a little while ago checking on the security for the new Almighty One. When I stopped by the administration office to get my travel permit to return here I noticed that Peorth was in a bit of a snit. So, I did an aura scan just for drill."

"Let me guess," Urd said with a mischievous smile, "green?"

"Like lime Jell-O!" Lind snickered.

"Disgusting I tell you, disgusting!" Skuld continued to protest.

Abandoning her efforts to restore her beloved instrument of death, Skuld decided to redirect her efforts to improving the efficiency of Keiichi's motorcycle on the off chance that he might find it more interesting to ride than her sister.

As she disappeared from view Lind asked Urd seriously, "Aren't you afraid of what might happen to Keiichi if she gets that infernal device repaired?"

"Not to worry," Urd smiled at her friend as she held up a small copper rod, "I removed the electrode from the center of the spark plug. Even if she does get the silly thing fixed it still won't start!"

"Gods, you are devious aren't you?" Lind laughed.

As Skuld rounded the corner of the house where Keiichi parked his motorcycle she had the unfortunate bad luck to stumble upon a couple of last night's partygoer's in a rather compromising position.

"Father! Hild! What in Heaven's name is going on around here!" she screamed while simultaneously debating weather she should pluck her eyeballs out in response to what she had just seen. "When did this place turn from a temple into a brothel?"

"Relax little one," her father said, "it's not what it seems."

"I don't care what it is!" Skuld screamed. "Father, aren't you suppose to be back up in the Heavens controlling the fate of the entire universe!

"And you," she said turning to Hild, "aren't you suppose to be causing untold misery to the people of earth right now?"

It was Hild who answered first. "Not really, the people of earth do a pretty good job of making themselves miserable without any help from me. I'm just taking a little 'me' time off."

"Can't argue with you there." Skuld admitted.

Turning her attention to her father she asked, "Okay, Father what's your excuse, and could you please take your arms from around the ruler of the netherworld! It just looks icky."

"Well it seems that last night's 'cough' orbit shift has mandated the adjustment of the orbit period of several comets." He explained, "and since the event didn't happen on my watch, I thought it only fair that my replacement put the universe back the way it was before I resumed my duties."

"Comet adjustments can take years to tweak in," Skuld said suspiciously, "where are you going to stay in the meantime?"

"Well since Belldandy's room is empty I thought I might crash there for a while."

"Oh, just the thought of him pawing my big sister infuriates me. It just seems so wrong to me somehow."

"There you are mistaken my daughter," the AMO smiled turning to Hild. "At this moment there is nothing more right in the world than the way they are right now."

"Well I don't like it!"

"Skuld," began Hild, "Belldandy is a goddess, and a topnotch one at that. Do you really think Keiichi can do anything to her that she won't allow?"

"Well now that you mention it, I guess not."

"Good, now would you be a dear and summon your sisters to the temple, your father and I need to finish our parley. We'll be along shortly."

"Oh, was that what you were doing just now?" Skuld said under her breath as she stormed off.

"I am so going to enjoy watching that kid make you squirm when she hits her teens." Hild remarked to her father.

"Well my dear," the Almighty One sighed, "shall we move on to the unpleasant part of our bargain?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Ah! 10948 edited. ch7.**

When the goddesses arrived at the temple they discovered that a complex mandala had been constructed. The design consisting of a large center circle with two smaller circles 180 degrees opposed whose circumferences all touched. Surrounding the three circles was a larger circle whose inner radius touched all three circles in the center. When the two leaders of Heaven and hell entered the chamber they went immediately to the smaller two circles and sat facing each other across the larger circle. In the larger circle Keiichi lay suspended in midair still dreaming of the previous night.

"The reason we are here," the Almighty began, "is because we need to educate Keiichi in The Truth."

"What do you mean the truth?" Skuld began, "we have never been deceitful with Keiichi."

"Never?" Hild asked.

"Well hardly ever."

"Not the truth," her father corrected, "Keiichi is to know The Truth."

"What," Belldandy gasped, "you don't mean The Truth as in The Truth of All Things!"

"Well yes, his part in it at least," her father answered.

"He's just a mortal," Belldandy protested, "there is no way his mind can accept those facts. The Truth could kill him!"

"Be advised," her father warned, "this marks a binding agreement between the two realms. If you fail to abide by this agreement then Heaven will be in default and Keiichi will be subject to summary judgment in favor of Hild."

"But father you're not being fair. May I at least know why?"

"No you may not! This is my Judgment and you shall abide by it!"

Belldandy thought she knew her father but to have him assume that kind of attitude over such a simple request made her very afraid. Looking about as if he was daring someone else to speak he waited for another objection, hearing none he began: "These are the rules. Urd your mother and I have agreed to allow you to serve as referee and representative of both realms. You may narrate but you are not allowed to take an active part in the proceedings. Belldandy, in exchange for my not taking an active role, you will be allowed to accompany Keiichi in the inner circle. Skuld, you have free reign throughout the outer circle. If a schism results it will be up to Belldandy to keep his soul contained within the first circle, failing that if his soul crosses into Hild's circle she is free to capture it, if his soul crosses in to my area I will not try to hold it and if Skuld is unable to capture his soul before it escapes the outer circle then that is the same as a capture for Hild. Does everybody understand?"

The three goddesses nodded their heads in shock. This was hardly a fair duel, with the Almighty One setting it out and Belldandy trapped in the inner circle. If Keiichi's soul did escape Belldandy's grasp then the duel would be essentially between Hild and Skuld with Hild having the infield advantage.

"Yes father," said Belldandy in resignation, "we understand perfectly."

"Good, then wake Keiichi and let us get this unpleasantness over with."

When Keiichi opened his eyes he was shocked to learn that he was no longer in his bed curled next to Belldandy but instead in the middle of the temple floor surrounded by people who looked as if they wanted to dissect him. In front of him sat Urd, her expression so grim as to look death like, beyond her was Skuld, to the right and left sat Hild and the Almighty One, behind him he could sense Belldandy as she waited fearfully. In an odd way he was glad he couldn't speak because he knew the fear he felt would be heard in his voice.

"Keiichi," Urd began, "before you can understand what is happening and why you are here there are some things I must tell you, so listen closely."

Keiichi nodded his understanding.

"I'm sure by now you've noticed that the Gods and Goddesses you've met aren't really all that godly, and the few demons you've met aren't really all that, well, demonic. That's because deep down inside we really are the same as you. You see once long ago, Gods, Mortals and Demons all walked this world together, played together, and lived together. But the nature of people being what they are they began to seek out others of their own kind and shunned those that were different. Eventually this led to the peoples of the world dividing into three camps and dividing the magic of the New World amongst them. The largest, the Mortals only had one power; I'll come back to that in a minute. The next largest was the Demons whose powers were far greater than the mortals, but the nature of the power that the Demons wielded was unreliable and best suited for self gratification. The smallest group was the Gods, and their power was more of a nebulous high level type of thing best suited for endeavors of intellectual curiosity. Although there were fewer Gods than Demons power wise they about canceled out. Coveting what they could not understand each camp sought to control a majority of the magic in the ancient world. Fighting broke out between the two camps that eventually led to the world being split into three parts with almost all of that ancient magical power being controlled by Heaven and Hell. Although both sides had sought to control the power of the other there was one power they overlooked and it was left behind on the surface world for the mortals to deal with. This power I refer to is evil. Evil, true evil, is and always will remain the sole dominion of the mortal world. Since it was the only power left to them the mortals had little choice but to embrace it.

"Now left to themselves the realms of Heaven and Hell would just as soon go their own way. However, the power we wield was stolen from the mortal plane and therefore is always trying to return to it. This fact binds the fate of the two smaller realms to that of yours. If we wanted too we could just use our power to control the fate of the mortal world but that would require that we release the power we have back to the world from which it came. But there are a few reasons we don't do that. One reason is that the first side to expend their power in such fashion would immediately be vulnerable to attack from the other side. The second is that our power is essentially a living thing; it has its limits and of course must not be squandered. The third and probably most compelling is that once released back onto this plane this power would eventually find its way into the hands of the mortals. Were mortals ever to gain control over such power the world would fall into chaos as a result of the evil that dwells in the hearts of all men. To avoid that we chose to release our power a little at a time by making contracts with people like you down here. In doing so we are helping people change the world, and exercising some control over our fate as well. You see, for all the good we goddesses do, and all the mischief that demons cause. It is how you, the humans, choose to use the gifts we grant them that really matter. In the final analysis it will be the mortals who decide the fate of us all.

"That brings us to you. By our actions we have inadvertently empowered you at this one moment in time with the ability to alter all our fates. However, remember what I told you about Evil being the only power humans possess. Well evil is the only choice you have, but still it is a choice and so we, the Rulers of Heaven and Hell must abide by it. Now you can make your choice blindly, and for your sake I hope you do, but because the differences between the outcomes are so profound we will allow you to witness the possible outcome of your decision before making it binding. But you don't get to pick and choose. You get to make one choice and we will let you see the probable outcome. Then you will either accept it or reject it in favor of an unknown future.

It took a few seconds for Keiichi to wrap his head around what he had just been told. When he finally did he understood that essentially he was being asked to make a choice. A choice that could re-define the fate of the entire world. What he had done to be placed in such a position he did not know and he suspected that the reason, whatever it was, would not be given him.

"So what say you Keiichi Morisato," Urd pressed on, "will you consent to see a future of your choosing?"

Keiichi nodded his head yes.

"Good, now before you lay two paths, one uncertain, one well defined. Which of these paths would you have us take?"

Keiichi thought about it for a moment before he chose the well-defined path, thinking that if it was the wrong one it would be easy enough to determine and reject it if necessary.

"Now come with me Keiichi and let us all see what the future holds..." Urd spoke as she opened the door to the unknown.

Keiichi finally found his voice. His screams of anguish emitting from the temple were heard for miles around. As the Almighty one predicted a schism occurred as Keiichi's soul ripped itself from his very body. Belldandy and Holy Bell fought to keep his soul from escaping the circle but its revulsion for the body that once held it was so great that it easily escaped her grasp. Instinctively it knew to avoid Hild's circle as it raced for freedom beyond Skuld's outer zone. It was the nimble hands of Noble Scarlet that finally caught him.

Once recaptured the three Norn's rushed into the center circle with Belldandy and began helping her as they feverishly tried to reintegrate his soul with his body.

"Well my dear," said the Almighty One to Hild, "are you satisfied with the outcome?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay and watch a little longer."

"Why, haven't we fulfilled the requirements of our parley?"

"That's why," Hild said in satisfaction as she pointed to the horrified expression on Skuld's face.

"He's not waking up! Why isn't he waking up!" she cried.

"Of course he is not waking up." Hild laughed as every eye in the room turned towards her. "His soul is the near perfect match to that of a goddess. Do you know of any goddess who would allow themselves to be tied to such a fate as what he just saw! Were he a god or even demon he would have re-written his fate long before now. But he is just a mortal, whose only power is evil, by rejecting the evil within him he rejects himself as well."

"Mother are you saying that you knew this would happen!" Urd said in disgust.

"It was easy enough to predict, humans instinctively fear the unknown. I knew it was a safe bet that he would choose the well-defined path. But the well-defined path is also the path of evil for that is the only power that mortals possess and therefore the only future he could shape. If his soul had managed to make it past the outer circle or I had managed to capture it then his soul would be mine and that would have been the end of it. Instead you managed to reintegrate his soul back into his body and sealed him to this fate. There is no way that Keiichi can accept that evil future as being of his own making! So his spirit fled to the inner most reaches of his mind.

"Then I will go in and find him!" Belldandy declared.

"You can try if you want," Hild said, "but with your power so weakened by last nights 'ahem' exertions I doubt you could do much for him. By the time you are strong enough to safely go in after him his spirit will be beyond even your reach. No my dear, I'm afraid that he will remain in that coma from now on, until death finally takes him! The evil future he would have precipitated on us all forever forestalled."

"Mother! How could you do such a thing!" Urd cried, "Given any information at all he would have chosen the correct path."

"For him this is the correct path," Hild replied coldly, "His voice forever silenced. His knowledge forever lost."

"But why!" screamed Skuld.

"Because he absorbed the power of a goddess, do you understand! A goddess!

"The future he saw was one where mortals coveted our power and relentlessly tried to steal it from us. Where gods and demons were hunted like animals! Where mortals drunk with power ravaged their own world!"

"We would have helped him to keep your secret, if you had only told us." Urd said.

"I couldn't take the risk, one slip from him and Armageddon would have been upon us. Besides, where do you get off blaming me, this was the legitimate outcome of a fair and honest parley. Instead blame your father. If he hadn't been so busy sniffing up my skirts maybe he could have negotiated a better deal. As for me I was just looking out for the best interests of my realm."

"Poor Keiichi," Skuld sniffed, "you and Belldandy finally get it together and then this happens."

As she kneeled next to the unconscious body of her sister's boyfriend she felt the presence of her father as he walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She wanted to push it away, knowing her father had failed so miserably but with his touch came the sense of reassurance. He smiled on her as he kneeled down to her level and said. "I'm afraid that I haven't been much of a father to you Skuld. I've let my position as the Almighty One come between the two of us. Here, take my card, next time you are topside stop in for a visit and I promise I will make time for you."

He stood up and surveyed the room, in its center knelt Belldandy as she held the comatose form of Keiichi, Holy Bell's wings encircling them both. At his feet knelt Skuld, trying to come to terms with the possibility that something this bad could ever be right. And Urd, whose rage was starting to tax her newly installed first class seals.

"Urd," he spoke to his eldest daughter who looked back at him questioningly, "For the record, I don't consider this a satisfactory outcome."

With that he strode out of the room to be rejoined by Lind and the two ascended back to Heaven.

As soon as he was away Urd searched for signs of Hild's presence. Not finding any she suddenly became all business. "All right people, we need a time portal and we need it now!"

"Huh, what's up?" Skuld asked.

"What father said just now, this isn't a satisfactory outcome. That means he doesn't consider my contract fulfilled."

"What contract?" Skuld asked.

"Later! We need to move fast while my mother is still basking in the afterglow."

Quicker than had ever been done before the three goddesses open a portal to the past. It was only after the gate was opened that Skuld thought to ask the trivial question. "Where are we going anyway?"

"What do you do when one of your inventions doesn't pan out?"

"Well," Skuld thought out loud, "sometimes if it just doesn't work..."

"Of course," Belldandy and Skuld shouted together, "Start over!"

With Belldandy carrying Keiichi, the three Norns entered the gate and stepped back into the past. To the morning of the day when Keiichi first made his contract with Belldandy. Like a hawk swooping down on its prey from above, Belldandy found the still sleeping Keiichi and forcefully reintegrated his past and future self's so fast as to be there and gone before the shock of the event woke him fully.

Safely snuggled away in that place that exists between time and space the three watched as Keiichi relived that first day before he met Belldandy. When time finally synced up again they stepped back into the now of that same evening and settled down to watch as Belldandy surveyed the night sky. As the three watched together Skuld suddenly became aware of the card her father had given her. Removing it from her blouse she noticed that it was embossed with three symbols that matched Belldandy's power tattoos.

"Belldandy?" Skuld asked.

"Yes Skuld?"

"Father gave me this card, but I really think he wanted you to have it," she said as she passed the card over to her.

Belldandy took the card and reading it, a puzzled expression came over her face as if she couldn't discern its meaning, then she just shrugged and put the card in her blouse.

"What are we waiting for?" Skuld whispered.

"Me," Belldandy said, "we are waiting for me to descend."

Observing the night sky in a fashion that only goddesses can do, the trio spotted the light as Belldandy's past self descended from Heaven. Belldandy flew up to meet her former self and there in the skies above, the two Belldandy's and their angels performed an intricate dance in the night.

"So beautiful," said Skuld as she watched the dance unfold.

"They are two but still only one," Urd said, "look closely though and you can see the differences. See how empty the old Belldandy looks. That's the residual effect of Celestin's betrayal. Look at our Belldandy now; see how whole she has become, so confident, so sure of herself. If ever there was a doubt about her staying down here this should be all the proof you need."

"I realize that now," Skuld admitted as she continued to watch the two angels dance in the sky, "I just didn't want to admit it. I've always known that something bad had to have happened to her when she was my age. I had hoped that my being goddess of the future would someday give me the power to help her some how. But nothing that can be done in the future can undo the scars of the past can it? That's why you've been pushing them together all this time, you've been trying to fix the past with the past haven't you?"

"You know," Urd told her with pride, "I think you will make a very potent goddess of the future someday."

"I intend to be."

Finally the two Belldandy's finished their dance in the sky and merged into each other. Spying her sisters on the ground Belldandy gave them a thumbs up as she vanished into Keiichi's room.

Up in his room the startled Keiichi was looking on the Goddess of the Present for the first time as she said, "Fear not, I am the goddess Belldandy and it is my duty to come to those in great distress and to, Oh to hell with that!" she said as she flew across the room and showered the freaking freshman with passionate kisses.

"Excuse me lady," said Keiichi from underneath Belldandy as she pinned him to the floor, "but who are you again?"

"Oh, how rude of me," she blushed still not letting him off the ground. "Here is my card," she said as she handed him the 3x5-index card Skuld had given her with a hand written message scribbled on one side.

"Please," she said in quiet desperation, "read it out loud for me."

"It says," Keiichi recited, "I wish for you to remain by my side forever."

"Granted," she screamed joyfully as a bolt of blue energy leaped from her forehead to blast the entire roof off of the building.

In the parking lot below the two other goddesses found themselves running for cover as bits and pieces of the roof fell all around them.

"What in Heaven was that all about!" Skuld cried.

"Just a small bonus," Urd smiled, "when past and present deities merge their power is doubled."

Urd's joy at having successfully completed her mission quickly faded as her hypersensitive nose caught the subtle hint of her mother's brimstone perfume in the night air. Turning her nose upwind she spoke to the emptiness, "Mother, have you ever thought about just buying something off the shelf at Macy's rather than have that idiot mix something up?"

"Ah, Madame de Brinvilliers, next to Thomas Midgley one of the greatest poisoners of all time," the chilling voice of Hild came from behind the pair. "You would think that an alchemist as accomplished as her could come up with something that wouldn't react so violently with my natural body chemistry."

"I knew it was to much too hope for you to just leave things as they are." Urd sighed.

"Hild what are you doing here!" Skuld said angrily, "Why can't you just leave them alone, haven't you done enough damage already!"

"I thought you three might try something like this and I just had to come see for myself if you all had learned from your past mistakes."

"I can't believe you!" Skuld cried, "What did she ever do to you! Why can't you just leave her alone already!"

"Don't worry I won't cause any trouble for them." Hild assured Skuld, "If Belldandy wants to waste energy granting the same wish over and over again then it doesn't bother me. Without there being some major change to the cause and effect the outcome will always remain the same with Keiichi in a coma four years from now."

"If you're so sure you are always going to win then why are you here?" Urd asked her mother sweetly.

"I just wanted to see if Belldandy was clever enough to warn herself off." Hild answered her, "But I guess that was too much to hope for. Instead, it seems she would rather Keiichi relive the last four years over and over again than for her to just let him go. I kind of feel sorry for her in a way, Keiichi will never age but Belldandy will continue to grow old. Even if she uses her power to keep herself looking young it won't change what's happening on the inside. I wonder what Keiichi will think then on that day when he wakes to find the body of a withered old hag by his side where once a beautiful Goddess lay."

"Without question you are the ruler of all Hell." Skuld muttered under her breath.

"Why thank you for the complement my dear. You know, I actually was impressed a little bit by how Belldandy got Keiichi to reinstate his wish but I am curious, why did she change the original wording of the pact?"

"Formatting," said Skuld with a smile.

"What do you mean," asked Hild, suddenly wary.

"It was father's idea really," said Skuld. "The original contract bound the Goddess Belldandy to the mortal plane. Complete with all the required licenses and restrictions. By changing to the more generic 'you' Belldandy is free to manifest in whatever form and at whatever power level she requires."

The two goddesses watched in silent satisfaction as the implications of what Skuld said caused the smug expression to leave Hild's face.

"That's right mom," Urd said, no longer afraid of the word. "Keiichi Morisato has just bound Goddess first class, second category, unlimited and unrestricted Belldandy to the mortal plane. Oh! She is so going to kick my ass when the Lord of Terror takes me this time around." she almost giggled.

"This isn't over yet," Hild hissed at them. "Even if she is more powerful than before it doesn't really change the fundamental rules of cause and effect. Even if it did a gentle nudge from me and everything will be back on track."

"Father thought you might say that, so he told me to give you this to read." Urd said as she handed her mother a folder with a FOIA cover sheet.

"What is that?"

"It's my copy of the sanitized version of the 10948 file you were so hot to get your hands on. Unless you are really into the techie stuff I would skip ahead to the highlighted section."

"You mean," Hild began, "that you have had a copy of this file on you all along!"

"Since I was one of the principals of course I would have my own copy. If I had known that you wanted to see inside so badly I would have let you peek at it." Urd smiled knowingly towards her mother.

"So you're telling me that all my hard work, all my devious planning was wasted on those two. The files were there for me to see all along!"

"The FOIA version, yes." Urd answered her, "The only reason it was classified to begin with was to keep Belldandy from finding out."

Opening the sealed folder Hild rifled through the contents until she reached the critical part. There is a certain satisfaction to be had in watching the leader of the netherworld go pale as she realizes she has just been outmaneuvered, Urd thought to herself.

"That is a pretty significant change to the cause and effect don't you think?"

"Your father can't be serious! How could he possibly be willing to let her loose uncontrolled with this record!"

"It's not that bad," Urd said, "Belldandy isn't inherently violent by nature, she just gets homicidal when someone she cares for is in danger. As long as nothing bad happens to Keiichi then you have nothing to worry about, now do you?"

"There is no way I'm going to stand for this!" Hild declared. "I'll have Mara up here with an army of demons for back up as soon as she breaks her seal!"

"Oh, yes you will! See this," Urd said dangerously as she wiped the makeup from her forehead revealing a diamond shaped mark, "This is father's punishment for me overstepping my authority! I am now a first class goddess and those two are my first contract. You screw with them and not only will you have to deal with Belldandy but you'll also be dealing with a pissed off 1st class goddess, the system force and all the other undesirable things that come with opposing the will of Heaven. Do you think, powerful as you are, you can stand against all that and still keep your own realm under control?"

Hild was taken aback by the tone of her daughters voice, it wasn't so much threatening or boisterous as it was cold hard steel, much like that of her father when he laid down the law.

"Oh, you are such a cruel child!" Hild finally said half mockingly.

"You called this tune mother, now it is time for you to pay the piper."

"To think, I spent all that time and effort seducing your father last night and all the while he was plotting this! I even slept with him! It makes me feel so, so used! I think I just might be falling back in love with that man!"

That said, Hild open a transport portal without even bothering to mask its presence and removed herself from this past timescape.

As the two Norn's watched her fade away Skuld turned to her sister and asked, "I thought you said father didn't grant you any additional powers."

"He didn't," Urd smiled down at her, "but he didn't take away my power to deceive either."

"I see, so now Hild doesn't have any way to gauge the nature of what she's up against. Very clever Urd. Tell me, do you think there might be a happy ending for them this time?"

"I can't say, but I know that mother isn't used to playing on a level field. That in and of itself will give her reason for concern."

"What about us?"

"Well dear, I think we are just going to have to put away our angels for a while and resume our roles in Heaven until time catches up with us. Don't forget to drop by and see father while you're up there."

"Tell me, are you planning on doing anything different this time around?"

"I doubt it. The first thing I intend to do is a full scale memory dump when I get back, so I'll probably make the same mistakes all over again."

"Sounds like fun, maybe I'll do the same thing." Skuld answered.

* * *

><p>From the antechamber where the Almighty One stayed, Lind and the Old god looked down upon events from on high.<p>

"Why the sudden change in attitude?" she asked.

"Because I hope that someday Urd's mixed blood will allow her to seal the breach between Heaven and Hell, but even if she is successful it will still fall to her on how to reunite the three realms. It is my belief that without her even realizing it she has embraced her fate and is even now working towards that goal. So for now, at least for the remainder of the time I hold this office, she will have the tacit support of the Almighty One."

"The Black and the White, the noble mistake that really wasn't."

"Yes, but for now let us keep that our secret. There are those in both realms that would oppose her, were her true purpose known."

"I understand and I obey Almighty One."


	8. Chapter 8

**Ah! 10948 edited. ch8.**

_Giving credit where credit is due, the idea of a system restore or reset is from Yumi Tohma's AMG novel First End. The idea of reformatting the wish was taken from Davners Fic Second Dawn. The statistics for Fat Man and Little Boy I got from the Wikipedia. I should also give credit to presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama whose misstatements have found new life in various places throughout the text._

_There are 3 different iterations of Keiichi's wish, (Americanized versions). In the OVA his wish was "I want you to be my girlfriend forever." In the TV series it was "I'd like a Goddess like you to stay by my side forever." From the Manga his wish was "I want a Goddess like you to be with me always."_

_In Kosuke Fujisnima's universe Goddesses are not immortal. From the OVA we know that Belldandy and Keiichi are the same age, we also know that Urd is 10 years older than Skuld. In the movie Belldandy clearly mentions that she wishes to remain on earth to live and grow old. (This is offset slightly by Celestin mentioning he can't wait 10,000 years for the people of earth to get their act together.) Also I really can't think of any thing sadder than an immortal being watching someone they love grow old and die while they carry on forever mourning their loss. So I hit upon the idea of iterations, essentially reincarnations, where the soul lives on forever even if the mortal coil does not. That way they become part of a cycle of continual renewal, to live and love over and over again. From that idea came its antithesis, and the basis for this next chapter: What if we mortals in our continuing pursuit of evil finally found a way to destroy that which had been considered indestructible?_

* * *

><p><strong><span>Up in Heaven.<span>**

"So, how long are you going to keep Destiny's boyfriend locked up doing your job?" Lind asked.

"It depends," the Almighty One responded, "I'm expecting a phone call from the other side."

"Why would she call you again, she got what she wanted from the parlay didn't she? Keiichi's timeline has been reset. He doesn't pose a threat to either realm anymore. Why would she push it?"

"I'm not so sure, her attacks on that pair don't seem to have any rhyme or reason. I suspect that any outcome that doesn't wind up with those two split apart will be unacceptable."

As soon as he finished speaking almost as if on queue the special Red Telephone began ringing in a fire hardened alcove in the antechamber. Like the red phone that connected the superpowers of earth this special line provided the rulers of the two realms with a direct line of communication. One major design alteration was that the mouthpiece on this phone was on a swivel that allowed the user to speak into the phone while aiming the earpiece the other way. The reason for this became apparent as Lind walked over to the alcove and took an asbestos glove from the table and a marshmallow from an open bag lying next to the phone. Placing the marshmallow on a spit sticking from the wall she picked up the handset using the asbestos glove and answered it.

As soon as she spoke five-foot flames shot out from the earpiece instantly incinerating Lind's marshmallow.

"Four Years!" Hild's voice screamed over the conflagration, "four years of contracts I have to redo because of those dam Norn's! Do you have any idea how much paperwork that involves?"

"The ruler of the universe is currently occupied at this time," Lind replied cattily, "Please hold and your call will be answered in the order it was received."

By the time the stream of flaming invective died down Lind and the Almighty One working in concert had almost roasted her entire bag of marshmallows. Feeling that it was finally safe to do so Lind handed the phone over to the old god. Putting a flame arrestor on the earpiece just in case he began talking to the ruler of the other realm.

The part of the conversation that Lind overheard went like this.

"Yeah, huh huh… Well they do operate in the time domain after all. Now, now you're over reacting. No, she is not unstable! I agree that is a lot of paper work. If I might suggest you might want to have your IT people get rid of all that crap from Redmond."

Whatever Hild said in response to that last comment caused the flame arrestor to glow bright red momentarily. Cupping his hand over the mouthpiece he glanced over to Lind and asked, "We got any more marshmallows?"

Lind trying to contain her laughter shook her head no.

At last Hild got to the gist of her problem as the old god furrowed his brow in concern. Finally he responded, "I see your problem, but I really don't have any reason to reopen negotiations at this point… That may be true but they are your Board of Directors… Well if that happens I will negotiate with the new CEO… I understand… Let me know how that meeting turns out."

"Problems?" asked Lind.

"Well it seems that Hild's board is in revolt over the Norn's resetting the past. They seem to be upset about the potential loss of all those contracts from the last four years all because of her abortive attempt to crash Yggdrasil. They are calling for her dismissal for being too reckless. Not to mention there seems to be a growing concern among the rank and file about Belldandy not having any limiters as a direct result of her meddling."

"You're not going to reinstate them are you?"

"No, there is no way I'm going to ham string one of my people in the field like that when they have the CEO of the Infernal Realm gunning for them. This would be true even if she wasn't my daughter!"

"If Hild loses her position then won't doublet be abolished as well?" Lind persisted.

"It's regrettable but true," the old god sighed, "fortunately we are in a relatively good position strategically speaking. If the truce breaks down I already have two of my strongest first class goddesses down on the mortal plane."

"Still wouldn't you want to prevent the regime change if possible?"

"Yes I would, but this problem is strictly Infernal internal. I can't be rescinding judgments simply because it might cause problems for the other side."

Even as they were still speaking Lind became aware of the alien presence that was the ruler of all demon kind in the vicinity, straightening up she grabbed her battle-ax and went into her defensive posture motioning to the AMO to get behind her as she did so.

The old god motioned to her to stand down, "So," he said, smiling to himself, "she must be really desperate not even insisting on a neutral meeting place."

Noticing Lind still in her defensive position he remarked, "Her trick is to restrict all her power so she can't be detected. Right now she is more vulnerable than a baby kitten. Go on and invite her into the chamber before the guard stumbles upon her."

Once inside the antechamber the Almighty One raised a shield around him and Hild, directing Lind to remain on guard just outside. Once the two were secure Hild got straight to the point.

"I want a do over and this is what I am willing to offer," Hild began as she handed him a plain manila envelope filled with legal looking documents. The old god took the package from her and studied it thoroughly. Hild had placed an image lock on the contents preventing anyone other than her ex from being able to read what was inside. Seen through the Almighty One's eyes, however, he could see that he had just been handed an illustrated copy of Alex Comfort's book The Joy of Sex. Basically, she was offering herself to him to use as he pleased in exchange for another opportunity for a parlay.

From past experience the old god knew that Hild took great pleasure in using her body as a tool of seduction, however, this situation was quite different. Over the years through ruthless bargaining and clever compromise her power and influence had grown until her will was the dominant force in all of hell. If she used her body to get her way now and then it was always because she wanted to and not because she had to. Now the power was on his side and this was her only bargaining chip.

He also knew her Board of Directors would look upon his victory over the CEO of hell in the battle for Keiichi's soul as a weakness. There would be calls for her dismissal and possibly open warfare in the netherworld. While he considered this to be an undesirable turn of events he couldn't just hand over his hard fought victory to the leader of the other side just because she was too big to fail.

Looking longingly at one of the more complex positions he held the book at arm's length and with a blast of blue energy the contents were reduced to their basic atoms. Startled Hild looked defiantly at her former lover then quickly looked away. "So I guess this means no."

"I want more!" the old god said firmly.

"Honestly," she said, "I have nothing more to offer."

"Honesty is what you do have to offer." He corrected her.

"I have always spoken the truth!"

"Yes that is true. It's what you don't say that hides the lies. I will have none of that today. If you want to enter into another parlay then I will hear you speak the whole truth and not just that which suits your purpose!"

Hild was visibly startled, as vulnerable as she was before this was a whole new level of openness. She realized that if she agreed to his demands then she would be more exposed than Belldandy had been when this whole mess got started. She studied the face of her ex in hopes of finding some sign of weakness or compassion but all she saw was the unyielding will of the ruler of Heaven.

Defeated she nodded her head in acceptance. "What will you have me tell you?" she sighed.

"I want to know why?"

"Why what?"

"What is it about those two that makes it so important that you give them your undivided attention? Their respective origins notwithstanding, they are just a couple of young people in love. They aren't a threat to anybody. Looked at strategically having one of my strongest goddesses tied down like that means that she is essentially neutralized."

"If only that were so!" Hild responded. "Everywhere those two go happiness seems to follow, and she doesn't even do anything! She just smiles and the mortals just gush love in her direction. Sometimes it's so sickeningly sweet that I want to puke!"

"That's not a reason that's an excuse!" The old god rebuked her. "The same could be said for anyone with her kind of attitude. Why do you persecute her so!"

"You really want to know why!"

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't."

"Because I hate her!"

"What possible reason can you have to hate her? Keiichi is her first contract after all. What has she done that would cause you to pursue her so relentlessly?"

Too late Hild realized that she had let her emotions get the better of her, having no other choice she answered him truthfully, "Because she looks just like you and because… because you chose her mother over me! Why, why did you do that!" Hild asked him even as she choked back a sob, "You knew I was destined to become Daimakaicho. You could have ruled my kingdom by my side and over me at night. But that wasn't enough for you was it? Was it!"

"You only sought me out to be the father of your child!" the old god challenged her, "You never mentioned anything beyond that!"

"You're such a fool sometimes," she accused him, "I needed you to be Urd's father yes, but that is because it is power not pedigree that determines succession. I wanted my daughter to have the best possible advantage. But I could have screwed any god if that was my only reason, I thought you would understand that I wanted more than that from you and that's why I offered you so much to stay.

"Even now after all this time I still don't understand why you left me. Can you honestly say you are happier cooped up in that box than you would have been with me?"

"In all honesty I can say I'm not," the old god conceded.

"Then why did you leave us!" Hild cried as the tears she had been trying to hold back suddenly sprang forth.

When a woman turns on the waterworks in the mortal world men consider it the emotional equivalent of going nuclear. In the Infernal Realm though this almost never happens, demon's tears are almost pure acid and the act of crying causes them even more pain. This is considered by many to be one of the primary contributors to their universal cynicism. The old god was so moved by this that he reached over to touch her face and ignoring the pain to his hand he cast a slight spell that neutralized the acid so that Hild's tears were only, tears. Feeling that the strategic risk might be worth the possibility of avoiding a war he pondered weather or not to let the mother of his first born in on his most closely held secret.

"I had an agenda too," he began, "Even though I knew we could never stay together I acceded to your wishes because I wanted to be Urd's father for my own selfish reasons. I never intended to fall in love with you and I did my best not too."

"You just used the past tense." Hild said a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"That's right, if it's any consolation you should know when I'm locked in that box all alone and the demands of the universe lessen to the point where I have a minute to myself that it's you my thoughts turn to."

"It's still not too late," Hild cried hopefully, "give Keiichi to me or just kill him outright, I don't care! Your successor is already in place; you don't have to go back! Together we can rule hell however we like and no one will stand in our way! I'll even stand down half my marketing force and let Heaven take the majority share. If I can just be with you then it really doesn't matter."

"I'm sorry my dear but I can't, I just can't."

"So you are rejecting me again!"

"I said I had an agenda, it's still not reached fruition. There is still so much left to be done I doubt I will finish up in this lifetime."

"Then just screw it, put it off until the next lifetime, I'll even help you if that's what you want. We will never be this way again! Don't squander our chance at happiness because of a dream you won't live to see fulfilled."

"Time is against us I'm afraid, I can't just stop what I've started. Were I to do so, this window of opportunity might slip away."

"What is it," she cried, "what is so important that it can't wait until tomorrow?"

"It's kind of a long story."

"Well if I am going to be completely open with you, you could at least do the same for me."

"Very well then, do you remember back at the turn of the last century when those two idiots fell in love with each other and rejected the laws of both realms."

"You mean my incubus and the silly little goddess that used to do Peorth's job?"

"Yes, those two, did you ever wonder what became of them?"

"No, not really, I had a watch order placed on his soul with Garm. I'll find out where he has been eventually. I hope the little nympho enjoyed herself 'cause I'm going to neuter his ass first thing."

The old god stared intently at Hild's face looking for any sign of deception. Finding none he said, "You mean, you don't really know?"

"Know what?"

The old god sighed heavily. "What I'm about to tell you is the most closely guarded secret in all of Heaven," he told her with a heavy sadness, "Should you ever betray this confidence I will immediately abolish the doublet and we will once again be at hazard. Think long and hard," he continued, his stare pinning her to the spot where she stood, "before you agree to hear what I have to say!"

Hild just stood transfixed by his gaze as she pondered the implications of his words. As she pondered she also became aware of another frightening fact; the god who now stood before her was not only her equal but in many ways her better as well.

"In the name of the Doublet," Hild spoke formally, "I swear I will always hold the information that you wish to impart to me in closest confidence."

"Very well." Without warning he shouted, "Lind, come into the circle!"

Lind immediately stepped into their presence and kneeled before the old god all the while never taking her eyes off of Hild.

"You summoned me sire?" she asked.

"Little Boy and Fat Man, report!"

"Yes sir!" Lind began standing to attention, "Little Boy, detonated over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Uranium "gun" type bomb. Delivery vehicle the B-29 bomber Enola Gay. Explosive yield 75 terajoules, Detonated at an altitude of about 550 meters over the target. Approximately 70,000 people killed outright and a further 70,000 were killed in the resulting firestorm. Long term deaths caused by radiation and other injury are over 200,000.

Fat Man, detonated over Nagasaki, August 9, 1945, implosion weapon with a plutonium core. Delivery vehicle the B-29 bomber Bockscar. Explosive yield 88 terajoules. Detonated at an altitude of about 550 meters over the target. Approximately 39,000 people killed outright and a further 25,000 were injured. Long term deaths caused by radiation and other injuries are over…

"That is enough Lind. Stand fast however, you need to hear this as well." the old god said, turning his attention towards Hild. "The operative numbers here are 70,000 and 39,000. As you know the average weight of the human soul is 28 grams, a god's slightly more, and a demon's slightly less. How ever you look at it though, you can calculate with exactness the number of lives lost in any disaster by measuring the weight of mass of the souls that Garm has to process at any given time. There is nothing remotely classified about Garm's intake amount so I looked at the numbers. At the moment of the first explosion Garm should have seen a spike of about 1.96 tonnes in the intake stream and three days later when the second bomb went off another spike of around 1.1 tonnes. However the intake rate for those two very clearly defined moments are little more than half that!"

Lind's eyes went wide even as Hild exclaimed, "You can't be serious! Were the death toll estimates off by that much?"

"Sadly no, the numbers are accurate," The AMO confirmed.

"Then what happened?"

"Poof," the old god shrugged his shoulders, "gone, vanished, it's as if they never existed."

Hild's eyes went even wider than Lind's as she pondered the implications of what she had just learned, "That's impossible isn't it," Hild argued, "I mean you can't really destroy a soul, mortal or otherwise! Even when you are forced to disassociate one after final judgment the energy still remains, it just gets recycled. After all souls exist outside the superstring, they are an existence in and of themselves."

"That's what I thought too," he said with a sad look in his eyes, "that's why I left her there."

"Left who there?" Hild inquired.

"How did you just say it? 'The silly little goddess who did Peorth's job.'"

"You knew her?" asked Lind.

"Quite well actually, she and her new boy friend had fled to Hiroshima." He told them as a single tear ran down his cheek, "I was having a hard time dealing with the fact that somebody had outclassed me from the other side. I was with her that day pleading with her to leave him and come home with me when that evil machine appeared. For the record I've seen the two of you in full on pissed off mode and trust me on this. Even if your power were combined you don't hold a candle to the absolute evil this machine was. It was an evil so powerful it dimmed the sun, even the mortals on the ground could sense it. He was afraid of what might happen if he escaped back to hell and she was not going to leave his side. In the end I fled, leaving the two of them to their fate. I told myself that even if the worst were to happen there would be another iteration for the two of them and maybe the next time around I'd get the girl. But I was wrong, she never came home. Just a few more grams of missing mass from Garm's total for that day."

"And this is why you volunteered to be Urd's daddy?" asked Hild as she digested this new information.

The old god just nodded his head as he continued, "Unless you are a special case it can take from 30 to 40 years for a soul to work its way to the top of the queue. I didn't really start looking for her in earnest until the mid seventies. I was already on the short list by then and I needed to know what happened while I still had the freedom to ask questions. That's when I discovered the discrepancy. As you can imagine I was stunned by what I had uncovered. It was also around that time that you snuck up here for the first time and we met. I thought that the Almighty One had laid a path at my feet for me to follow that led to you. -By the way I looked into that later on and discovered that I had nothing to do with it."-

"I think I see," said Hild thoughtfully, "so my asking you to sire my child was the catalyst that caused you to embark on a plan to keep the mortals from destroying themselves with me and Urd unwitting parts of it?"

"Yes it was, but I'm afraid that this plan may be beyond my ability to see through on my own. So, if you want another shot at Keiichi then you are going to have to give me some serious concessions not only in overall market share but I also need your tacit cooperation to stay out of certain markets until the appropriate fail-safes are in place."

"I see," Hild pondered, "and what is Urd's part in this grand plan of yours?"

"The same reason as yours; power not pedigree, with one other caveat; free will. I need for her to have the ability to make decisions unencumbered by any prejudice or preconceived notions of the past and the power to enforce them if needed."

"What about Belldandy and Keiichi, are they also part of your plan?"

"No, they are not, but they seem to be an integral part of Urd's plan. Whatever that might be."

"You mean you don't know!"

"No I don't, but since it is important to her, then it is important to me. That's why I allowed the reset."

"Okay, I think I understand what your logic is here," Hild conceded, "If we do anything to harm Keiichi or Belldandy we place ourselves at loggerheads with Urd whom you seem to think is in the process of saving the world. For my part my concern isn't really with Keiichi this time, only the knowledge that he has acquired. If we can find a way to nullify that then I will be more than happy to let things return to the way they were. I'll even back off pestering the two of them. But I can't help you if I'm no longer the Daimakaicho so give me another chance to put this matter straight that doesn't wind up with that homicidal bitch running loose on the planet uncontrolled and you will have my full support!"

"Your full support?" Lind needled her.

"Yes, my FULL support!" Hild retorted, "After all what good does it do either realm to have unlimited market share if all our customers are dead!"

"Very well then, Lind?" The AMO asked.

"Yes sire?"

"Cut Destiny's old boyfriend loose from doing my job and replace him with whoever her current paramour is."

"It will be done sire." Lind replied as she bowed deeply before exiting the circle.

Turning his attention to Hild he began, "All right then, as a safety precaution I created a system restore point when I left here to go meet with you. I can reset us to that time but it will fall to you to play it straight with him. We both have a vested interest in seeing Keiichi's knowledge locked away. After all, all three of my daughters are stuck down there right now and they are dangerously exposed."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Deja vu all over again.<span>**

"Well my dear," the Almighty One sighed, "shall we try again?"

When the goddesses arrived at the temple they discovered that a complex mandala had been constructed. The design consisting of a large center circle with two smaller circles 180 degrees opposed whose circumferences all touched. Surrounding the three circles was a larger circle whose inner radius touched all three circles in the center. When the two leaders of Heaven and hell entered the chamber they went immediately to the smaller two circles and sat facing each other across the larger circle. In the larger circle Keiichi lay suspended in midair still dreaming of the previous night.

"The reason we are here," the Almighty began again, "is because we need to educate Keiichi in The Truth."

"What," Belldandy gasped even as the sense of déjà vu filled her soul with dread, "you don't mean The Truth as in The Truth of All Things!"

"Well yes, his part in it at least," her father answered.

"He's just a mortal, there is no way his mind can except those facts. The Truth could kill him!" Belldandy heard herself protest for the second time.

"These are the rules. Urd your mother and I have agreed to allow you to serve as referee and representative of both realms…"

Human scientists believe that déjà vu is nothing more than a timing error between the right and left sides of the brain. They are in fact phasing errors that tend to occur when certain Trans Universal TPE's (Turning Point Events), manifest out of sync with the rest of reality. Belldandy being one of the divine guardians of time was of course, hypersensitive to such occurrences. Instinctively she knew that this event had happened once before and whatever choice her beloved had made it had been the wrong one. Studying Hild as she kneeled in the center of her circle Belldandy also noticed that she seemed too relaxed, almost as if she didn't really care if she captured Keiichi's soul or not.

"So, it is the event that leads to the release of his soul, not the outcome that is relevant." Belldandy thought to herself. "Keep the schism from happening and Keiichi will be safe."

When Keiichi roused himself from his slumber he too was filled with dread and a strange sense of Déjà vu. He didn't even bother to wonder why he was here he only knew that he needed to be away from this place and quickly. Not that he could go anywhere being trapped as he was.

"Keiichi," Urd spoke formally, "before you can understand what is happening and why you are here, there are some things I must tell you so listen closely."

"Keiichi," Hild interrupted her daughter, "You must understand that I bear you no ill will personally but there is more at stake here than just your soul so let me just reiterate **listen closely** to what Urd tells you."

"Belldandy," the Almighty one began, "since you have chosen to intertwine your fate with his you may advise him if you wish. But still Keiichi must make the choice. Do you both understand?

Almost too terrified to move Keiichi and Belldandy both nodded their heads in understanding.

As Keiichi listened to Urd's instructions he began to notice that certain words she said had a peculiar resonance, like they were somehow more important than the rest

"Beloved" Keiichi heard Belldandy speak in his mind, "I feel it too, listen closely and do not make the obvious choice unless you are sure it is the right one."

Urd continued, "Keiichi, I'm sure by now you've noticed that the Gods and Goddesses you've met aren't really all that godly, and the few demons you've met aren't really all that, well, demonic. That's because deep down inside we really are the same as you. You see once long ago, Gods, Mortals and Demons all walked this world together. But the nature of people being what it is they began to seek out others of their own kind and shunned those that were different. Eventually this led to the peoples of the world dividing into three camps and dividing the magic of the New World amongst them. The largest, the **Mortals only had one power.** I'll come back to that in a minute. The next largest was the Demons whose powers were far greater than the mortals, but the nature of the power that the Demons wielded was unreliable and best suited for self gratification. The smallest group was the Gods, and their power was more of a nebulous high level type of thing best suited for endeavors of intellectual curiosity. Although there were fewer **Gods** th-**an Demons** power wise they about **cancel-**ed **out**. Coveting what they could not understand each camp sought to control a majority of the magic in the ancient world. Fighting broke out between the two camps. This eventually led to the world being split into three parts, with almost all of that ancient magical power being controlled by Heaven and Hell. Although both sides had sought to control the power of the other there was one power they overlooked and it was left behind on the surface world for the mortals to deal with. This power I refer to is evil. **Evil**, true evil, **is** and always will remain **the sole dominion of the mortal world.** Since it was the only power left to them the mortals had little choice but to embrace it.

"Now left to themselves the realms of Heaven and Hell would just as soon go their own way. However, **the power we wield was stolen** from the mortal plane and therefore is always trying to return to it. This fact binds the fate of the two smaller realms to that of yours. If we wanted too we could just use our power to control the fate of the mortal world but that would require that we release the power we have back to the world from which it came. But there are a few reasons we don't do that. One reason is that the first side to expend their power in such fashion would immediately be vulnerable to attack from the other side. The second is that our power is essentially a living thing; it has its limits and of course must not be squandered. The third and probably most compelling is that once released back onto this plane this power would eventually find its way into the hands of the mortals. **Were mortals ever to gain control over such power the world would fall into chaos** as a result of the evil that dwells in the hearts of all men. To avoid that we choose to release our power a little at a time by making contracts with people like you down here. In doing so we are helping people change the world, and exercising some control over our fate as well. You see, for all the good we goddesses do, and all the mischief that demons cause. **It is how you**, the humans, **choose** to use the gifts we grant them **that really matter**. In the final analysis it will be the mortals who decide the fate of us all.

"That brings us to you. By our actions we have inadvertently empowered you at this one moment in time with the ability to alter all our fates. However, remember what I told you about Evil being the only power humans possess. Well, **evil is the only choice you have**, But still it is a choice and so we, the Rulers of Heaven and Hell must abide by it. Now you can **make your choice blindly**, and for your sake I hope you do, but because the differences between the outcomes are so profound we will allow you to witness the possible outcome of your decision before making it binding. But you don't get to pick and choose. You get to make one choice and we will let you see the probable outcome. Then you will either **accept** it or reject it in favor of **an unknown future**.

"So what say you Keiichi Morisato, will you consent to see a future of your choosing?"

"I've been here before," Keiichi thought to himself, "and whatever choice I made it was the wrong one! If evil is the only choice I have then it seems to me that the only way I can avoid an evil outcome is to refuse to choose!"

Looking Urd straight in the eyes Keiichi shook his head no, hoping that would be the end of it.

Startled Urd responded, "I see. Still it falls to you to choose, before you lay two paths, one uncertain, one well defined. Which of these paths would you have us take?"

Once again Keiichi shook his head no, indicating that he would not make any choice.

"You don't have that option." said Urd reading his mind, "You will make a choice. Either you make it here and now or you will make it by word, deed or action at a later time. Keep in mind that if you wait till later you won't be able to change your choice."

"Keiichi?" he heard Belldandy's voice in his mind, "there is more going on here than we are being told. I don't know what it is myself but for this to be happening to us for a second time means that more than just our fates hang in the balance. Make your choice but make it carefully and know that I will be behind you all the way."

Keiichi thought to himself, "The obvious choice to me would be the well defined path. A smart man would want as much information as he could get before deciding on his fate. But the obvious choice would also have been the wrong one for me to be here once again. Obviously the obvious choice is the wrong choice, so if evil is all I know and evil my only choice then I will choose that which I do not know. It's still an evil choice but it is also a blind choice which means the powers of good an evil will both be undefined and that means they will be equal."

Indicating that he wanted to take the unknown path Urd nodded to him and extended her hand, "Now come with me Keiichi and let us all see what the future holds." She said as she opened a portal to the future.

Keiichi stood up to take Urd's outstretched hand when suddenly he heard Belldandy shout in his mind. "Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principal!"

Keiichi paused thinking about her warning. Suddenly the light went on in his mind. Of course! Obviously right and obviously wrong were still both obvious choices! The final choice, the choice of knowledge that was where the error lay! As Heisenberg had proven looking at the result changes the outcome and if evil is all men know then for him to know the outcome would define that outcome as such. Only by choosing blindly and then walking away did the possibility exist for something other than evil to prevail.

Keiichi dropped his outstretched hand to Urd and shook his head sadly, "No," he thought to himself hoping that the others could read his mind, "the future isn't for me to know. It is for all of us to shape."

Smiling at him Urd dropped her hand and spoke formally, "So be it now and into the future for this is the path that you have chosen and we shall follow."

"Hey now that's not fair!" They all heard Skuld protesting from her position in the outer circle. "Nobel Scarlet and I have been practicing all day and we don't even get a turn at bat?"

"Not this time," Belldandy said to her younger sister, "this time we got it right."

Turning she took Keiichi's outstretched hand in her own and smiling at him the pair began to walk out of the circle only to find their path being blocked by the Almighty One. "So that's it!" he scowled, "You will just choose randomly and leave us all to our fate."

"Yes father," Belldandy spoke for the both of them, "that is exactly what we intend to do."

"Wrong answer!" he screamed as he wrested Keiichi from Belldandy's grasp and forcefully pulled him into the vortex.

Keiichi finally found his voice; (again) His screams of anguish weren't heard by anybody however. To keep the Norns from interfering Hild had put up a barrier as soon as the Almighty One made his move. As the Almighty One intended a schism occurred as Keiichi's soul ripped itself from his very body. It didn't have anywhere to run this time being trapped within the barrier and the old god caught it easily and stopping only to place a tag on Keiichi's soul he forcefully reintegrating it into Keiichi's body.

When the barrier dropped Belldandy almost yanked Keiichi's limp body from his hands wrapping Holybell's wings around him for protection as she screamed "Father how could you! We played by your rules, he made his choice. If you didn't like his decision then you should never have given him the choice to begin with!"

"I'm sorry my daughter, but if I have to choose between you and some puny mortal, then that mortal will lose every time."

Turning to Hild he said, "So my dear are you satisfied with the outcome?"

"Let's wait just a little longer," Hild answered him, the anticipation clearly evident in her voice.

Despite her young years Belldandy was not naive. She was well aware that the words innocent and victim all too often found themselves side by side when being used to describe a tragedy of some kind or another. But she was also possessed of a strong sense of fair play. To have seen the one person she cared for most in the world double teamed by the two most powerful beings in all of creation was beyond the pale and in her righteous indignation a dangerous anger began to build inside her. Desperately she tried to control her dark emotions but as had happened with Celestin her control over her power quickly began to fade.

Realizing the danger Urd placed herself in a defensive position between the rulers of Heaven and Hell as she watched helplessly as her sister slowly lost her battle to reign her powers back in. Belldandy sensed it too and as she had done before she cast a sealing spell on herself and Keiichi in order to contain her power but she knew it was a stopgap measure at best. Having become exponentially more powerful than when she was only fifteen. Almost immediately the seal surrounding the two began to lose integrity and began to fail. Urd, trying to forestall the inevitable began feeding her power into the seal as well. It was then that Keiichi regained consciousness and thanks to the two of their minds still being linked together he was able to sense the turmoil in Belldandy's mind. Knowing the same as she did the danger that they were both in he spoke to her trying to calm her anger.

"Belldandy stop it," he pleaded, "I'm okay, I'm okay, just let it go!"

"I can't," she cried, "My power has already been released! My powers have become too strong and the seal I placed around the two of us will soon fail! When that happens my anger will lash out even though I don't will it so!"

Even as she spoke Keiichi could see the beginnings of the stress line fractures that warned him of the seal's impending failure. "Then re-focus it," he told her, "redirect your power down another path, a productive one!"

"My mind is too confused! What path should I choose? What path!"

Sensing her desperation Keiichi spoke the first thing that came to mind. For four years he had been a member of the Motor Club and while he could count all of his victories on the fingers of a single hand his losses easily filled a good size ledger book. Over those years he had seen many a good racing team fall apart as they tore into each others throats because of a simple failure. What set him and his rather eclectic friends apart from those others was their ability to redirect their anger towards their shared purpose of a future victory.

"Purpose," he told her, "What is power without purpose to guide it?"

"Of course," she smiled at him, even as she chided herself for not seeing the obvious answer, "Power without purpose is wasted energy but," she continued looking down at him, "I will need you to help me carry this burden for I have already expended more energy than I can reabsorb."

"I told you that I will always protect you," Keiichi answered her, "and I intend to always stand by those words!"

With that Belldandy ceased to expel energy and both she and Keiichi began to reabsorb it and there in the privacy of their own little world a new power began to be conceived.

Fortunately for the pair the shock of Keiichi having had his soul rip itself from his body only to be forcefully re-integrated moments later then being required to serve as an overflow container for his girlfriend's excess power was too much for his mortal mind to cope with and he lost consciousness again. As a result none noticed that when the bubble finally dropped the Belldandy and Keiichi who had entered it had become fundamentally altered. The powers that they both possessed starting to become an amalgamation of the better parts of their separate selves.

The danger to the leaders now past, Urd switched her defensive posture seeking now to protect Belldandy from any retribution as she watched over Keiichi. Soon Keiichi began to stir while Belldandy stroked his head. When he finally woke, he started sobbing as he tried to relate that which he had just witnessed, "Belldandy, I saw, I saw you…" He stopped clutching his throat. Each time he started to speak he felt the words catch in his throat.

"What you saw falls under the heading of special significance and you may not speak of it, ever!" the old god said. "As long as you never speak of it it will never happen."

It takes a lot, a whole lot, to get Belldandy pissed off, Urd realized and she began to fear for her sister lest her father's attitude push her over the edge again. Besides the wrongs she had just seen Belldandy suffer were beyond extreme and then to have her father take that kind of attitude was uncalled for.

"Father, Mother," Urd said un-apologetically, "I think the two of you have just worn out your welcome!"

That said the leaders of the two realms bowed their heads and silently left the temple. Once outside the old god extended his arm to Hild.

"Well my dear," he said, "would you care to go to breakfast?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of room service," Hild said, "We are going to need privacy so we can hammer out the details of our new 'ahem' relationship. By the way, if you don't mind my asking what was that tag you placed on Keiichi's soul?"

"Salvage title," the Almighty one smiled, "if he even thinks about breaking confidence with me I'll rip his soul from his body before the words reach his lips!"

"I just remembered," Hild replied as she smiled seductively at the old god.

"Remembered what?"

"I remembered what it was that attracted me to you in the first place."

Later that evening Belldandy lay curled next to Keiichi watching him thrash in the throws of a nightmare while he slept. "I'm sorry Keiichi," Belldandy thought to herself, "but Peorth's book on couples says that in order for any relationship to work we shouldn't keep secrets from each other. I know you would like to tell me what I want to know, but my father won't let you, so I'm going to look into your short term memory."

As she looked into his mind she saw the horror that her father had forced him to witness. She saw herself crucified, with hundreds of people lining up to share in the blood that pooled at the base of her cross. Belldandy merged her consciousness with his and slipped into his dream. Once inside Keiichi's dream Belldandy merged with the image of herself. As she did so she could feel the nails as they pierced her flesh in Keiichi's dream world. Looking down at her beloved as he tried to drive the crowds away she drew his attention to the baseball bat that lay unnoticed at his feet. As he looked back up at her she gave him a look of supreme confidence that told him that even in these dire straits she was sure he would still prevail. Infused with the magic power within the bat he swung it furiously over his head and drove the crowd back not pausing until all had fled. Looking back up at her Keiichi took control of his dream and willed the cross to morph into a bench and she suddenly found herself in his arms still bleeding from her wounds. The bat in Keiichi's hand changed into a towel and holding her head in his lap he began to wipe the blood from her hands and face. Belldandy looked up to him and smiling said. "You protected me again today Keiichi. Just like you always have. Just like I know you always will."

As Keiichi's nightmare faded into more pleasant dreams Belldandy withdrew from his mind.

Shuddering at the image that her father so cruelly placed in his psyche she turned her attentions to his troubled soul. Placing her hand on his heart, (where the soul resides) she willed its frantic beating to slow in order to calm it. Looking closely she found the salvage tag her father had placed there. With a surge of jealous rage she ripped the offending talisman from his soul and tore it into a million pieces. Still not satisfied she tore each of those into a million more. Her violent action roused Keiichi from his slumber. Groggily he asked, "Belldandy is there something wrong?"

"No Keiichi," she smiled down on him, "everything is all right now, go back to sleep, go back to sleep.

"I will not ask your forgiveness father," she thought to herself, "he is mine, shared with no one, body and soul."

In a nearby love hotel.

"That's what I was afraid of," said Hild as she pointed to the monitor that hovered above the bed she shared with the old god. "What are you going to do now?"

"In all things save this one matter she strives to be the perfect daughter," the old god sighed, "a power even greater than her own seems to be at work here. If so, then I think the wiser course of action is to wait and see."

"I won't dispute your logic, but we have a disaster in the making in the form of Keiichi's unrestrained mouth. What are you going to do to keep it closed?"

"I guess I don't have much of a choice, I'm going to have to elevate his ass somehow and place him under the direct control of Yggdrasil."

"Can you even do that?"

"It might be possible but it will depend on just how much he really wants to remain by Belldandy's side, on how much he is willing to sacrifice of himself to stay there. On the up side it even falls under the constraints of the original wish. After all, forever lasts much longer than just a single lifetime."

"You could just give him to me you know. I can place him under the control of Nidhogg and still arrange it so those two can stay together." She wheedled.

"You are devious, aren't you?"

"What are you saying?" Hild smiled mischievously.

"We both know twenty minutes after she finds out he's in the Infernal Realm she'll switch sides to become the Daemon Belldandy."

"Daemon?"

"You don't think I'm going to let her switch sides without some concessions now, do you?"

"Brutal," said Hild as she imagined what her life would become if Belldandy were to acquire a seat on the Board of Directors of the Infernal Realm. "On second thought let's just stick to your original plan."

"Besides," she thought to herself, "Urd is the true prize after all."

_Author's note: I had intended to end this Fic one chapter earlier but I wanted to show Urd in a different light than she is often portrayed. Instead of the accidental result of a philandering God and a devious Demoness. I wanted her to become perhaps the most important being in all creation. One whose true purpose is so critical as to require her true destiny be hidden from everyone, even herself. There was a 9th chapter to this story but as it took shape I began to realize that what was being written wasn't a continuation of this story but the beginning of another and it is now chapter two of this story's sequel; Ah! Does Size Really Matter? Which I will probably begin re-editing as soon as I repost this story._


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